A STUDY - Francis Thompson’s Hound of Heaven - By Rev.J.F.X.O'Conor, S.J.

Sep 29, 2026

Study of Francis Thompson’s renowned religious poem “The Hound of Heaven,” presenting it as unusually sweet, profound, and powerful in the English tongue. The text compares the work with major odes and supports its stature through remarks from the Bookman, the Times, the Spectator, Coventry Patmore, G.K. Chesterton, and Wilfrid Meynell. It also explores the poem’s spiritual vision: the soul’s yearning for happiness, its turning to creatures instead of God, and God’s relentless pursuing love until the soul’s love is awakened toward Him.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time1 h 20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Critical comparisons and quoted opinions

Themes: the soul’s yearning for happiness

God’s pursuit and spiritual insight

A5·Dyo FA oPo HoCND OF HAVoDo u.13.7 # A STUDY OF FRANCIS THOMPSON’SHOUND OF HEAVEN BY REV.J.F.X.O’CONOR,S.J. Former President of Brooklyn College, Professor of Philosophy.St.Francis Xavier College,N.Y.Author of Reading and the Mind,BabylonianInseriptions,Facts about Bookworms. FIFTH EDITION Dedicated with permission toHIS EMINENCECARDINAL FARLEY New YoRKJOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXIII 3mrtnti oteat. JoSEPH F.HANSELMAN,S.J.Provincial,Maryland-New York Nthil 9bsfaf. REMIGIUs LAFORT,S.T.L.Censor 3ntpriutafur JoHS CARDINAL FARLEYArchbishop of New York Neu York.Julu 20th,19/2 Printed,July 20,1912……300 copies Reprinted,August,1912……1,000 copies Reprinted,September,1912…1,000 copies Reprinted,December,1912…2,000 copies Reprinted,April,1913………3,000 copies CoPYRIGHT, J.F.X.O'CoNOR,1912. A STUDY # FRANCIS THOMPSON’SHOUND OF HEAVEN By REV.J.F.X.O'CONOR,S.J. This great poem,strange to say,is comparatively littleknown.It is the sweetest,deepest,strongest song everwritten in the English tongue. Among some of the great odes are"Alexander'sFeast,"Dryden,“Ode on the Nativity,"Milton,"Intima-tions of Immortality,"Wordsworth.To say Thompson'spoem is one of the great odes is to place it unrankedamong them.In my judgment it is greater. I do not hesitate to say.with the Bookman that"theHound of Heaven seems to us,on the whole,the mostwonderful lyric in the language.It fingers all the stopsof the spirit ...but under all,the still sad musicof humanity,"and with the Times,that"people will stillbe learning it by heart two hundred years hence,for ithas about it the unique thing that makes for immortality.It is the return of the nineteenth century to Thomas àKempis.” With the Spectator,I ask,"is there any religious poemcarrying so much of the passion of penitence—an ode in the manner of Crashaw,and in the comparison,it morethan holds its own.” With Coventry Patmore I marvel at the"profoundthoughts and far-fetched splendor of imagery,qualitieswhich ought to place him in the permanent ranks offame,"while even Burne-Jones cries out"Since Gabriel'sBlessed Damosel no mystical words have so touched meas the Hound of Heaven." And may we not add the words of G.K.Chesterton,"with Francis Thompson we lose the greatest poeticenergy since Browning.In his poetry as in thepoetry of the universe,you can work infinitely out andout,but yet infinitely in and in.These two infinities arethe mark of a great poet,and he was a great poet.” "The great poetry of it(The Hound of Heaven)tran-scended in itself and in its influence all conventions,"says Wilfrid Meynell,"so that it won the love of a CatholicMystic like Coventry Patmore;was included by CanonBeeching in his Lyra Sacra among its older high com-peers;and gave new heart to quite another manner ofman,Edward Burne-Jones." It would be difficult to find another poem in the lan-guage that gives such food for thought,so satisfying,sonew,that can be read and reread,and always with arelish and a discovery of a new application,or the glim-mer of an unseen light.In many poems,one readingsuffices,and the mind is sated,for the whole depth isplummeted and all is revealed in a single view.It is notso in this poem.There is a depth that can be sounded,and deeper depths are still there.The vision takes in theview,but other details arise that charm,or surprise,orstartle,or evoke admiration at the spiritual insight intothe workings of the soul.It gives great and widerange of thought within a small compass,and a deep knowledge of the human soul,of the meanings of life,ofthe soul's relation to God and of other beings not God,and of the hold of God’s love upon the soul in spite of itsfleeing from Him to the creatures of His hand. It is happiness the human soul is ever yearning for.It never ceases its quest for happiness.Night -and day,year after year,it is grasping after happiness.The wearydays of labor are borne to gain the wealth with whichit thinks it may buy hap

FAQs

What does the study claim about “The Hound of Heaven” in English poetry?

It argues the poem is comparatively little known yet is among the sweetest, deepest, and strongest songs in the English tongue, even surpassing other great odes in the author’s judgment.

Which critics are cited to support the poem’s importance?

The study quotes the Bookman, the Times, the Spectator, Coventry Patmore, G.K. Chesterton, and Wilfrid Meynell, each highlighting different aspects of the poem’s wonder, immortality, or spiritual influence.

What central spiritual idea does the study say the poem expresses?

The poem expresses the creature-fleeing soul being pursued by God’s love, showing the soul’s search for happiness and how God’s love awakens a love that turns away from creatures and returns to Him.

Sep 29, 2026

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