Volume 2 of The works of Francis Thompson, Poems contains a section titled A Narrow Vessel, starting with the following description:
Being a little dramatic sequence on the aspect of primitive girl-nature towards a love beyond its capacities
It consists mostly of poems about unhappy love affairs with girls; they are often bitter and reproachful, sometimes telling of “sin.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
This is one of the first two published poems of Thompson; it first appeared in 1888 in Merry England, the journal edited by Wilfrid Meynell. While he was a vagrant and beggar in London, Thompson had sent to Meynell a dirty envelope containing two poems, one of which was ‘Dream-Tryst,’ and a prose essay; Meynell put them aside for a few weeks, then published the three texts in the issues of April, May and June 1888. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Another poem of Francis Thompson published posthumously. Addressed to Monica Meynell, it alludes to an earlier poem dedicated to her, “The Poppy,” which was probably written in 1891 when the girl was 11 years old. Hence this one can be dated around 1900, written for a 20 years old Monica. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
This well-known poem appeared in Thompson’s first volume Poems in 1893. It is dedicated to Monica, the eldest of the four Meynell daughters. It was probably written in 1891 when she was 11 years old. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Wilfrid and Alice Meynell had eight children: Sebastian, Monica, Everard, Madeleine, Viola, Vivian, Olivia, and Francis. In the “Biographical Note” introducing the book Selected Poems of Francis Thompson, Wilfrid Meynell writes of Francis Thompson:
The children of the family in London, into which he was received, were the subjects of Poppy, The Making of Viola, To Monica Thought Dying, To my Godchild—all in the first book of Poems; while two of their number have a noble heritage in Sister Songs. Constant to the end, when he died some newly pencilled lines were found, addressed “To Olivia,” a yet younger sister, recalling the strains of fifteen years before.
Indeed, this poem dedicated to the youngest Meynell daughter, born in 1890, was published by Wilfrid Meynell several years after Thompson’s death in 1907. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
After being rescued from vagrancy, the poet Francis Thompson was brought by Wilfrid and Alice Meynell to Our Lady of England Priory in Storrington, West Sussex, where he stayed in order to recover from his opium addiction. In his “Biographical Note” introducing Selected Poems of Francis Thompson, Wilfrid Meynell wrote: CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Today I introduce an English poet of the late 19th century, who loved little girls and wrote beautiful verse for them. I will devote a few more articles to some of his most moving poems. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
