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
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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/
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Woollen, C J. The Hound of Heaven. The Irish Monthly. 77(913), 1949, 332-35
2. Wright, James. "Saint Judas." Approaching Poetry, Perspectives and Responses. Ed. Meg Spilleth. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1997. 70.
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In 2001 a new poet laureate was crowned and a new voice; the voice of
Pearce Joseph. Literary Giants, Literary Catholics. Ignatious Press, 2005. Google Books. Web. 9 April 2011.
Raffel, Burton. and Alexandra H. Olsen Poems and Prose from the Old English, (Yale University Press)Robert Bjork and John Niles,
A few of Herbert Scott's poems are about the grocery business. In The Boss he comments on the fact that all types of people come to buy groceries, "The rich, the ugly, the beautiful, the sweet. He is from the traditional school, and the language that he uses shows that he is someone who made it on his own in the working class especially when he states "No-one give me nothing I earned what I earned" Being from the old school, it is his belief that in order to succeed in the business "You got to live in it." He sees the grocery business as being timeless and necessary because "We all got to eat." Like many bosses, he feels that he "knows this business." All indicators point to the fact that he feels he is very good at his job. In Six-Month Review he tells an employee how to make it in the business. Since the employee is not "naturally gifted in the sales or service line" he is only capable of working "The check out stands, stack cans, trim vegetables, sort bottles." He tells the worker that for his job he need not use the head on his shoulders and that if he is lucky and does what he is told, he will ironically make it until the age of forty. Once again, he gives the impression that he is knowledgeable about his job and feels comfortable dictating the employee's future. In Boss in the Back Room, Scott points out the pecking order in business. The bankers own the grocery and do not care about the mechanics. They are only concerned about "the paper and pen" aspects of the establishment. As proprietor, he is in charge of the running of the grocery store. As the boss it is his job to know the customers' spending habits so that he can turn a profit. He has control over the wages he earns by setting the price of the groceries and selling things to people. He tells us how he will "Keep the customers talking" so that "They don't know which way their money went. He lets the "customers pay" because "They got their own racket somewheres." He believes that "They take you. You take them." When he works the checkout on Saturdays, a high volume-shopping day, he uses various tricks such as weighing the produce and ringing the price high.
Vernacular poetry plays an interesting role in Sufism primarily because the mystic religion, which aims to reaching salvation with the divine creator, is inherently poetic. The Sufi world view, which ...
After working numerous menial jobs, Hughes stumbled upon a profession that truly suited him. He became a merchant seaman and recurrently visited various ports in West Africa. From these travels he learned that he loved seeing new and foreign places. Instead of returning to the United States, Hughes spent time living in far off places such as Pans, Genoa, and Rome. In each location he gathered information and experience that he began writing about. Upon returning to the U.S., Hughes released his first publication and gained instant attention and fame. Now comfortable with what he wanted for his life, Hughes returned to college and grad...
In 1912 he sold his farm and moved to England where he could work on his writings full time. He was an instant success! “A Boy’s Will” was accepted by a London Publisher and a year later so was “North of Boston”. He also began to get recognized in America.
Witherspoon Alexander M., and Warnke Frank J., ed.. Seventeenth Century Prose and Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963, 2nd.
Melani, Lilia. “Religion, Metaphysics, and Mysticism” Wuthering Heights as a Metaphysical Novel. 16 Oct. 2003. Brooklyn College Department of English. Web. 20 May 2014.
Line, Francis Raymond and Helen E. Line. Man with a Song: Some Major and Minor Notes in the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi. United States: Image Press, 1982.
The metaphysical poets have immense power and capability to wonder the reader and cajole inventive perspective through paradoxical images, subtle argument, innovative syntax and imagery from art, philosophy and religion implying an extended metaphor known as conceit. The term “metaphysical” broadly applied to English and European poets of the seventeenth century was used by Augustan poets John Dryden and Samuel Johnson to reprove those poets for their “unnaturalness”. John Dryden was the first to use the term metaphysical in association with John Donne as he “affects the metaphysics.” Goethe, likewise, wrote, “the unnatural, that too is natural” and metaphysical poets are studied for their intricacy and originality. It will not be irrelevant and absurd to say, “Metaphysics in poetry is the fruit of the Renaissance tree, becoming over-ripe and approaching putrescence” (C. S. Lewis). Scholars described the characteristics of metaphysical poetry from different point of view. They, in fact, lay out the essence of metaphysical poem, as does R.S. Hillyer to call “ Loosely, it has taken such meanings as these--metaphysical poetry as difficult, philosophical, obscure, ethereal, involved, supercilious, ingenious, fantastic and incongruous.”
Francis Thompson lived in London at the end of the nineteenth century. He led a life that was often out of accord with the will of God, but repented near the end of his life and found God. He wrote an autobiographical poem, "The Hound of Heaven", based on his experiences. By analyzing this poem and Thompson's message, we can learn the truth of the statement "God's greatest attribute is His mercy."
Sir Thomas Wyatt is credited as one of the first poets to bring the sonnet form into English literature, a form in which the speaker’s sincerity for, most commonly, a distant mysterious woman whom he loves, is believed to be the focal point of the poetry. From the selection of works which Wyatt wrote we can see many point in which the focal point is seemingly the earnestness of his love for his muse as authenticated by what he states in the poem itself. However, there is a sense of underlying meaning throughout his works which the reader must tease out themselves to see that that in fact is the focal point of his poetry.