Francis Thompson’s Poetry

Francis Thompson is widely acknowledged as a poet whose poems and literally works were a clear depiction of a world full of splendor, a universe parallel to the one we know. His most acclaimed poem is the ‘Hound of Heaven’, which saw his writings become appreciated by, masses prior to his death. His works portrayed a mix of the mystic, and natural. Some people claimed that he was fixated on dying, as he wrote about pagan and witch sacrifices. Modern scholars associate this with his opium addiction.

Biography

Francis Thompson was born of parents who had a strong religious background as Catholics in the year 1859 (Chilton par. 1). Francis contracted a chest infection that saw him take opium medicinally as a painkiller. Francis later became addicted to taking the drug leisurely, an addiction that almost saw him waste his life away. Francis Thompson had been brought up in the Catholic Church, and as he grew up, he enrolled at the Ushaw college to train as a priest. His efforts at becoming a priest were futile, and he decided to assume the role of his father and try medicine (Chilton par 1).

He was admitted at the Owens College, and sat for the final tests severally to qualify as a surgeon. Francis, however, failed each time ad in the long-run gave this up. He then travelled to London, at an attempt to find a job. He could not hold down a job for very long, this can be attributed to his opium addiction. He was at one time, a shoemaker and then for lack of a source of livelihood, sold matchboxes and partook in other menial jobs. For the better part of 1886 up to 1888, he was homeless and sometimes begged for food on the streets of London.

It was during this time when he was a destitute that he sent his work to a newspaper, which publis...

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...f Ottawa, 1952

Husain, Itrat. The Mystical Element in the Metaphysical Poets of the Seventeenth Century. New York: Bibo & Tannen Publisher, 1948

O’Connell, Marita. Francis Thompson the poet of modern Catholicity. Loyola University Chicago. (1941) Retrieved on 8th March, 2014 from http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/298

Meynell, Everard. The Life of Francis Thompson. Charleston: BiblioBazaar, 2009

Thompson, Francis. The Night of Forebeing. Retrieved on 8th March, 2014 from http://www.oldpoetry.com/Francis_Thompson/From_The_Night_Of_Forebeing

Thompson, Francis. An Anthem of Earth. Retrieved on 8th March, 2014 from http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/45894/

Thompson, Francis. The Hound of Heaven. Retrieved on 8th March, 2014 from http://www.oldpoetry.com/Francis_Thompson/The_Hound_of_Heaven

Woollen, C J. The Hound of Heaven. The Irish Monthly. 77(913), 1949, 332-35