I could have called this work The Sorrows of Eleni, as the model for my original series suddenly relocated to the West Coast for a better job. Though wishing him well, it was frustrating to have to abandon my original project, titled The Great Society and Unrequited Love of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimsdale, and retool my work in a different direction.
Compounding my anguish was that this triptych, the second or third in the cycle, was to be my “Cecil B. DeMille” version of unrequited love, reckless irresponsibility, ego-centrism and self-righteous hubris. So with the loss of my primary resource and my grandiosity muted, I looked for new inspiration.
Luckily, my search led to Gerard Manly Hopkins who proved to be a compelling literary figure and an artist who lived a life of sorrows far greater than my temporary pain of being unable to finish a favorite triptych. Early in his life Hopkins largely surrendered his poetic aspirations and became a Jesuit priest, though this set his life on a course of constant depression. His work largely remained unpublished until after his death, a factor that must have contributed to his gloomy outlook.
Gerard Manly Hopkins’ melancholic life represents a cautionary tale for artists. Did he betray the artist within for the priesthood? Or were there other reasons to sacrifice his true calling as a poet?
