pickIn the opinion of J.R.R. Tolkien, Thompson is to be "ranked amongst the very greatest of poets". Tolkien would, I'm sure, be drawn to the Catholic sentiment of the poem, in which the Hound is Christ, who lovingly hunts the lost soul of the poem's narrator, a biographical theme given Thompson's loss of faith, destitution, drug-addiction and ultimate return to the Christian fold. For myself, it has psychological meaning rather than a religious one.
On the rash lustihead of my young powers,
I shook the pillaring hours
And pulled my life down upon me; grimed with smears,
I stand amid the dust o' the mounded years-
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
On recognising the author's name, I looked him up and was pleasantly surprised to discover that he was born in Winkley Street in Preston, which I walk down each week, and his name I recognised from this plaque hung to commemorate his birth in the city. I was passing today and caught this view of Francis taking in the sunshine 🌞
I spotted this one at Great Grandfather's Bookshop in Leyland, Lancashire, struck by the front cover, then half remembering the title, then fully remembering the opening lines, though I can't quite place from where: the introduction to another book of poetry, but which one I can't recall. The disappointment of the slightly torn jacket and staining were ameliorated by the £1.50 price mark penciled in the front, so it ended up coming home with me!
The Hound of Heaven | 
