The Collected Poetry of Francis Thompson

by Francis Thompson

Excerpt from The Collected Poetry of Francis Thompson
Poems On Children
Daisy
Where the thistle lifts a purple crown
Six foot out of the turf,
And the harebell shakes on the windy hill -
O breath of the distant surf! -
The hills look over on the South,
And southward dreams the sea;
And with the sea-breeze hand in hand
Came innocence and she.
Where 'mid the gorse the raspberry
Red for the gatherer springs,
Two children did we stray and talk
Wise, idle, childish things.
She listened with big-lipped surprise,
Breast-deep mid flower and spine:
Her skin was like a grape whose veins
Run snow instead of wine.
She knew not those sweet words she spake,
Nor knew her own sweet way;
But there's never a bird, so sweet a song
Thronged in whose throat that day.

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Genres: Poetry

438 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

Francis Thompson was an English poet and ascetic. After attending college, he moved to London to become a writer, but in menial work, became addicted to opium, and was a street vagrant for years. A married couple read his poetry and rescued him, publishing his first book Poems in 1893. Thompson lived as an unbalanced invalid in Wales and at Storrington, but wrote three books of poetry, with other works and essays, before dying of tuberculosis in 1907.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translations, p.120

[j e rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And barren is my song, and barren is my heart."

[Stay Fetters · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sir Francis Thompson is currently Jack the Ripper of 2015, until next year they believe it to be someone else.
He loved opium and let's not forget the hookers. The wonderful ladies of the night.

Didn't finish and didn't even come close. Some of these poems go straight over your head and other ones are so simple that you wonder if they were written by the same person.

Victorian England everyone was addicted to hookers, so keep looking for a mysterious villain.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75