The Windhover The Windhover "The Windhover" is a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). It was written on May 30, 1877, but not published until 1918, when it was included as part of the collection "Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins". Hopkins dedicated the poem "to Christ our Lord". "Windhover" is another name for the common kestrel ("Falco tinnunculus"). The name refers to the bird's ability to hover in midair while hunting prey. In the poem, the narrator admires the bird as it hovers in the air, suggesting that it controls the wind as a man may control a horse. The bird then
The Windhover reciting "The Windhover". The poem appears in the "Diggs" episode of "The Simpsons" (Season 25 Episode 12) as the guest character Diggs (voiced by Daniel Radcliffe) is a falconer and shows Bart how cool falconing is. The poem also appears in "The Waltons" (season 2, episode 13: "The Air Mail Man"). John-Boy reads part of The Windhover to his Mother, Olivia, as a birthday present. Olivia said she did not understand it but was moved by the phrase "my heart in hiding stirred". The Windhover "The Windhover" is a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). It was written on May