Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
After abandoning poetry in pursuit of the priesthood, Hopkins was inspired to write again after reading about a German shipwreck, in which five nuns were drowned. (Source)
Hopkins described his bouts of depression as "spiritual sloth" and "darkness and confusion of soul"—bummer. (Source)
Contributing to Hopkins' depression was the poor quality of student papers that he had to grade, after his appointment as a Professor of Greek and Latin at University College in Dublin. (Source)