In Hopkins's terms, inscape refers to what?

• A. Divine inner particularity of every living thing
• B. The force of inscape impressing itself on the viewer
• C. A type of external image
• D. A philosophical concept about time

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is that inscape is the inward, unique pattern that makes something what it is—the essential individuality or sacred core of a thing. Hopkins treats every living thing as carrying a divine inscape, a distinctive inner form that reveals its unity and particularity when perceived. The term focuses on the object's own internal nature, not on how it affects the viewer. Perception itself, the energizing force that grasps and holds that inward pattern, is called instress, not inscape. So the best choice identifies inscape as the divine inner particularity of each living thing. External images or theories about time miss this inward, sui generis essence Hopkins is naming.