‘The
Hound of Heaven’ by Francis Thompson:
A Theological Reflection and Contemporary
Analysis
Fr. Joby Kachappilly VC (Copy Right: The Author)
Introduction:
Francis Thompson (1859-1907) is known as a religious and mystical poet. The
personal life of Thompson was mixed with the bitter taste of catastrophes such
as failure to become medical doctor or a priest, and finally, he was an addict
to drugs and alcohol. He almost became a destitute with a physically ill
condition. Despite all these painful struggles, it is said that Thomson neither
failed to pray nor gave up his faith. The intervention of Meynell brought him
back to the poetic artist to bloom up again. The Hound of Heaven was written during this stay with Meynell and
family who helped him to enter a Capuchin monastery in Wales[1]. All the the New poems
written in this period reveals the Christocentric liturgical revelations of the
church. Thompson enjoyed an acclaim as “Romanticist of the Catholic Revival”[2]. His poem ‘The Hound of Heaven’ is considered as a
masterpiece among the religious and mystical poems for its spiritual exuberance
and poetic brilliance which was highly appreciated even among the non-Catholics
as well as in the secular circles. This
could be one of the reasons, that twenty five years after his death, in 1933,
The New York Times judged the tribute then paid to him as equal to those
ordinarily paid only after a century[3]. The classical richness
and the depth of inner beauty is visible in ‘The
Hound of Heaven’ not just in the allegoric expressions or rhymes of the
poem, but of the mystical imagination that pierces the inner soul entangled in
the world.
A very personal reading of the Poem ‘The Hound of Heaven’ has deeply
inspired me to see the Merciful face of God in pursuit of my own soul in spite
of my sinfulness. It is enlightening to
know God is in search of man with His unconditional love. In this paper, more
than a scientific study of the poem, I would like to enumerate the insights and
reflections revealed in it’s close reading. Man is God’s own image. Sinful pursuit
of happiness has distorted this image. Nothing in this world can ever bring happiness
or beauty to his soul than God Himself.
The
Hound of Heaven: A Thematic Reflection
The poem is composed of 182 lines. It can
be divided into five parts. In the first section, lines 1-53, it speaks of the
flight of the soul in search of pleasure. Second section 74-83 depicts the
escapism of the soul from the Divine eyes. Lines 84-110 reveals the reality of
the worldly pleasures that distances man from God; lines 111-160 depicts the
hopelessness and struggle of soul in return to the Divine love. Lines 161-182
shows the persevering and compassionate love of the heavenly Father that wins
over the human search of happiness.
A
Theological Reflection and Poetical Revelation
The Soul reviving poem, ‘The Hound of Heaven’ is a mystical
presentation of the divine initiative in search of human soul caught up in the
worldly pleasures. The poem begins with a cry “I fled him…I hid from Him and under running laughter”. The 8th
line – “From those strong Feet that followed..” reveals the Divine movement
towards the lost soul with a determined Will.
The words ‘Strong Feet’ ‘Deliberate speed’ ‘Voice beat’ shows the mercy
of God which reaches far beyond the human comprehension to redeem the lost soul
with a compassionate heart and passionate love. It is said to be a reflection
of Thomson’s own inner life in connection with God, the Father but ever
relevant to each human soul. Thomson points out how much ever one tries to hide
or being hidden, ultimately, it is a betrayal of God Himself – ‘All things betray thee who betrayest Me’.
It reminds me the journey of the prodigal son in the Gospel where it says, “…he
went to a far distanced country…”(Luke 15:13). Similar temptation of human life
is visible in this poem as it says, ‘Across
the Margent of the World I fled…’. The soul in this poem is trying to seek
help of world to protect him from loosing its charm, ‘I said to dawn…Be sudden ..eve – be soon...heap me over from this
..Lover’. It shows a wilful act of a pleasure seeking mind of the soul that
loves to hurt Him being deaf to the “Feet” and “the Voice beat”. The Divine
voice is clear – ‘Nought shelters these
who wilt not shelter me’. Because sinful soul can never have fellowship
with God that beckons happiness from this world however beautiful they seem to
be– ‘Come then…share with me...let me
greet you lip to lip…’ Ultimate beauty is from God and of God. The word
repeated in the poem – ‘I knew..’, ‘I laughed’, ‘I triumphed’ show the pride of
a soul in absolute deafness and blindness of the unreal joy of this world. The
Poem tells the grief of the soul, at the same time, but not truly converted – ‘In vain my tears were wet on Heaven’s grey
cheek’. Human soul to experience real inner joy has to truly turn to God
biding farewell to the worldly pleasures as earthly joy is temporary.
The poetical beauty lies here that brings a
supernatural truth with few words and transcending the thoughts of sinner into
a higher world. This realisation is slowly penetrating the soul as Thomson
points – ‘Nature…can’t slake my
drougth..sky – ‘show me the tenderness...Never did any milk of her bless me..’.
Amidst this chaos of mind, the soul still heard the sound of “Feet.. and Voice”
which said – ‘Lo, nought contentst thee
who content’st not Me’. Thomson brings this twist of Divine voice to show
God is omniscience and all knowing, even hidden thoughts of a soul. Perhaps
that could be the reason the soul in this poem in soliloquy whispers; ‘In the rash lusthead of my young powers..I
shook the pillaring hours…with heavy grief so overplussed’. Here, the soul
even slowly realises the worldly affair was equal to dust as soul feel absolute
emptiness in all these at cries –“my heart is as a broken fount’…As the soul
looks in with deep sigh above, finds a God whose long pursuit is winning over
his soul. Though an awareness of unworthiness blooms in the heart of the soul worldly,
yet the gentle call of the Hound of Heaven – ‘Rise, clasp My hand, and come’ ‘Halts by me that football…Shade of His
hand’ gives hope to the hopeless. The poem ends with the call of real ‘Beauty’
that beckons the soul to experience it far beyond the world – ‘Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, I am He
whom thou sleekest! Thou dravest love from thee dravest Me’. Anyone
who is united with God, becomes a source of true happiness.
Contemporary
Review and Relevance of the Poem
The human mind is always in search of
Happiness. It can be temporal or transcendental. In the pursuit of worldly
pleasures, man becomes a victim of weakness and frailties that prevent the Divine
touch of life. Whereas, in search of Divine love, deprived of the worldly affairs,
human being chose the path of ascetical or mystical life. In the first case,
God comes in search of man. In the second case, man goes in search of a God. The
meeting point of both, the divine - human initiative can be called the nucleus
of God experience. The ‘Theophany of God’ in the creatures and created worlds
reveals the unfathomable as well as the merciful love of God. The Holy Bible is
the story of the Divine initiative to reach out to man, stained with sin and
stilled by the savagery of worldly pleasures.
Thompson presents in this poem, a God who
hunts the soul with all efforts to retain it. We see
a similar parallelism in the story of the prodigal son who wandered and
squandered everything he had as his birth right (Luke 15: 11-32). On the
realization and return of the son, we see a father who runs towards the son to
restore his life with all its splendour. Thompson reveals the mystery of God’s
mercy and the human nature oriented towards sinful pleasure. It is truer than
man is incapable of saving himself recover from its wretched state. He needs the
grace of God. God’s grace is moving towards each one in ways known and unknown
to us. The life of St. Augustine gives an example of inner revelation of the
poem of Thompson. Augustine was searching for love and pleasure allured by lust
and beauty in friendship, and material things. But, Augustine clearly tells in
‘Confession’ that God had been speaking to him in different ways and his ears
were deaf to that divine initiative. It is evident that God was running after St.
Augustine like a hunting dog to save him. This poem reveals the supernatural
truth that nothing in this world can satisfy the human soul as it is indelibly
marked with the fingerprints of God’s creation. The U turn or return to God is
a Divine must for the experience of everlasting joy and happiness. The poem
reveals “God sees everything and we can hide nothing from His eyes”. All we can
do is in humility surrender to the mercy of God. God never fails in his
pursuit, though we fail to reach out to Him. The beauty of this poem is
revealed in the compassionate heart of the Father, who is patient with our downfalls and ever ready to erase
its stain with the Divine forgetfulness. It reveals a ‘reverse mysticism of
God’ who is in all effort search of human soul for spiritual union. God is
never tired of us. This poem is leading us to God. As St. Thomas Aquinas said,
“the poet’s task is to lead us to something virtuous by some excellent description”[4].
It
shows the psychological tendency of human nature to escape from God so as to
enjoy its own pleasures. In today’s world, we see a consumerist and epicurean
culture trying to find its happiness in the material world. Thompson’s poem
depicts the materialistic world with all its fascinating charm beckoning and
alluring the innocent souls even in today’s world. The addiction of drugs,
smoking, pornography, etc. is just sparkling examples. The real happiness and
beauty can experience in God and in connection with God. St. Augustine in
“Confessions” writes, ‘Our heart is
restless, until it repose in Thee’[5].
The poem, Hound of Heaven is a story of “Spiritual In carnation” into the human
soul and a “Divine celebration” of human soul.
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[1] Frank N.Magill Ed.By, Masterpieces of Catholic Literature, (New
York: Harper & Row Publishers,1965), 712
[4] Paul Murray OP, Aquinas At Prayer: The Bible, Mysticism and Poetry,
(London, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc,2013), 178.
[5] The Confessions, Trns.by Edward B. Pussey D.D., (Washington Square
Press: Newyork, 1962), Book I.1
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