Beginning of Essay
The windhover takes its' name from its ability to hover steady over one spot in the face of the wind. The subject of the poem is the poets admiration for a balance acheived in the face of violent motion, and both admiration of the transcendental example of Christ ....

Middle of Essay
.... fall together in Hopkins. He describes the windhover in detail as an individual. In the second part of the poem, the symbol of the windhover gives way to the figure of Christ. Yet Christ is not symbolized through traditional symbols, but in clay and coal. In this Christ is shown to be a component of a physical or material world. The flame from the windhover indicates self-sacrifice under stress. It is interesting that Hopkins puts AND in capitals and the resulting flame is described as a billion times lovelier than the windhovers image. Maybe the AND expresses the poets surprise that the spendor of self-sacrifice should be greater than the ....