ABSTRACT
That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection is the third of the long sonnets, with codas, that Hopkins wrote in Ireland, during the last two years of his life. Tom's Garland and Harry Ploughman were both written on holiday in Dromore, Northern Ireland in September 1887; That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire on 26 July 1888, on a day off from examining in Dublin, 'one windy bright day between floods', as he described it to Dixon. The experimenting with form in all three shows a new confidence in his creativity; the Greek thought that lies behind the first part of this sonnet reflects his lifelong interest in the Classics. The effect of studying masterpieces must be on every original artist to some degree. According to Heraclitus all nature is ultimately resolvable into fire. All is therefore in a state of flux: nothing escapes final destruction.
