Professor David Anthony Downes reads Gerard Manley Hopkins through the literary prism of Paul Ricoeur's magisterial account of the human self. This is the first application of Ricoeur's writings to a major author.

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Prologue: Hopkins' Hermeneutical Stages of Consciousness Chapter 3 Hopkins' Selving Hermeneutics Chapter 4 Selving The 'I Am' in G.M. Hopkins Chapter 5 The Poetics of Volition in Hopkins Chapter 6 The Poetics of the Sacramental Word: Hope and Freedom Chapter 7 Poems of Existence Chapter 8 The Poetics of Redemption Chapter 9 Readers' Responses Chapter 10 Bibliography Chapter 11 Index