Francis thompson poems

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Francis Thompson

English poet (1859–1907)

For other people named Francis Thompson, see Francis Thompson (disambiguation).

Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholicmystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer and poet. He spent three years on the streets of London, supporting himself with menial labour, becoming addicted to opium which he took to relieve a nervous problem.

In 1888 Wilfrid and Alice Meynell read his poetry and took the opium-addicted and homeless writer into their home for a time, later publishing his first volume, Poems, in 1893. In 1897, he began writing prose, drawing inspiration from life in the countryside, Wales and Storrington. His health, always fragile, continued to deteriorate and he died of tuberculosis in 1907. By that time he had published three books of poetry, along with other works and essays.

Early life and study

Thompson was born in Winckley Street, Preston, Lancashire and bapt

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FRANCIS THOMPSON

(18 December 1859 – 18 November 1907)


Francis Thompson

A look at Francis Thompson's life and work

The influence of Francis Thompson on HW

Henry Williamson and the Francis Thompson Society

Henry Williamson and Catholicism

'A First Adventure with Francis Thompson' in The Mistress of Vision

'In Darkest England' in The Hound of Heaven

In the mid 1960s HW wrote two major essays concerning the work of the metaphysical and mystic visionary poet Francis Thompson. These two essays were written for, and incorporated into, two separate limited edition commemorative volumes, each containing a single Thompson poem.

1. 'A First Adventure with Francis Thompson'

Published in The Mistress of Vision (St Albert's Press, 1966: 500 numbered copies; 2 guin

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The Hound of Heaven

Francis Thompson (1859-1907)

Francis Thompson was born in Northwest England in 1859. The son of Catholic converts, as a boy he was initially educated for the priesthood. When he was 18, at his parents' insistence, he entered Owens College in Manchester to follow in his father's footsteps and study medicine. But before long, he left for London hoping to pursue what he believed was his true vocation of being a writer. As a result of ill health and subsequent medical treatment, like many before him, Thompson became addicted to opium. He soon fell into a life of despair and destitution, sleeping on the banks of the Thames with London's homeless and selling matches just to stay alive.

Yet it was during this time, in the midst of all his hunger, deprivation and hopelessness, that he was most able to see the kingdom of Heaven. These devastating experiences honed his poetic focus and insights. In 1888, Thompson sent a tattered and torn manuscript to the Catholic periodical Merry England. Its editors, Wilfrid and Alice Meynell, devout Christians themselves, not