Religious Poem In 'The Hound Of Heaven'

“‘The Hound of Heaven’ as a religious poem.”

“The Hound of Heaven,” is an ode to the indescribable love of Christ, written by Francis Thompson was published in the late nineteenth century (1893-1897). Conflict between faith and science was seen among the people of England, scientists and modern thinkers had emerged, and during this period though poetry flourished in England, but poems which contained Christian themes was not written. Yet, Thompson conquered the hearts of his readers, by the poetry of faith.

A careful examination of this poem will show that the poem also is a representative of the European thought that existed during the nineteenth century, because it was the age when people had lost faith in God, many wanted to run away from him, as they had started trusting their intellect and wisdom more than the Almighty. Staunch believers had abandoned their faith, as they gave importance to science. Though earlier, poets like Evelyn Underhill and Lord Alfred Tennyson did write religious poems, during Thompson’s period, there was none. As G.K. Chesterton, a Christian apologist, and a theologian and a poet, puts it, “The Hound of Heaven,” was “the greatest religious poem of modern times and he calls the poem, “the most magnificent poem, ever written in English.”

Thompson’s biographer, Everard Meynell, who has written, The Life of Francis Thompson says, “The title of the poem is borrowed from Celtic mythology, in which the title, “Hound,” is a term of honour. The title,