Francis Thompson
Francis Thompson was an English poet, born to a homeopathist family and raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Initially educated at Ushaw College with hopes of becoming a priest, he later pursued medicine at Owens College, Manchester, but found the field unsuited to his temperament. After abandoning his medical studies, Thompson moved to London, where he struggled with opium addiction and lived in poverty, even selling matches and newspapers to survive. His literary career took off in 1888 when he published poems in the magazine *Merrie England*, thanks to the support of editor Wilfred Meynell and his wife, Alice. Thompson is best known for his poem "The Hound of Heaven," which reflects themes of divine pursuit and salvation. His works, influenced by Catholic mysticism and the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century, are noted for their depth and spirituality, though he produced only a limited body of work. Thompson's life was marked by his ongoing battle with addiction, and he died of tuberculosis on November 13, 1907, leaving behind the poignant epitaph: "Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven."
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Francis Thompson
English poet, biographer, and critic
- Born: December 18, 1859
- Birthplace: Preston, Lancashire, England
- Died: November 13, 1907
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Francis Thompson, the son of a homeopathist, was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith and educated at Ushaw College in preparation for becoming a priest. At the age of seventeen, in accordance with his father’s desire, he began to study medicine at Owens College, Manchester. A frail and timid young man, he found medical study repugnant. After six years he gave up the attempt to become a physician and went to London, where he became addicted to opium and sank into the direst poverty. For a time he earned his living selling matches and newspapers. In the spring of 1888 he sent two poems to Wilfred Meynell, the editor of Merrie England, who accepted them for publication. With Meynell and his wife, Alice, as his patrons and supporters, the poet tried to break the opium habit.
Thompson’s first volume of poetry, simply titled Poems, contained “The Hound of Heaven,” a poem that despite its strict Catholic dogma became immediately popular. The poem recounts God’s pursuit of the speaker, who is ultimately saved from despair. In addition to Catholic mysticism, which informs particularly his early works, Thompson was tremendously influenced by the English Metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century. Thompson produced few works, and he probably never lived up to his potential. He was never able to break his addiction to opium. He died of tuberculosis on November 13, 1907, and was buried under his own epitaph: “Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.”
Bibliography
Halladay, Jean R. Eight Late Victorian Poets Shaping the Artistic Sensibility of an Age: Alice Meynell, John Davidson, Francis Thompson, Mary Coleridge, Katherine Tynan, Arthur Symons, Ernest Dowson, Lionel Johnson. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1993.
Parekh, Pushpa Naidu. Response to Failure: Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Francis Thompson, Lionel Johnson, and Dylan Thomas. New York: P. Lang, 1998.
Waldron, Robert G. The Hound of Heaven at My Heels: The Lost Diary of Francis Thompson. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999.