The Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins alienated himself from practically all of his English contacts – including his family – by his decision to convert to Catholicism. Joining up with the Jesuits, he worked intensely, foremost on his priestly vocation and, secondly, on his highly perceptive poetry, which he deliberately kept to himself, frightened of the vanity that renown would bring. Hopkins is, along with John Henry Newman with his visionary The Dream of Gerontius, the best example of a Victorian English poet who converted to Catholicism, at a time when such a decision would lead to ostracism and scorn in his home country.