Hound of Heaven
Encyclopedia
The Hound of Heaven is a 182 line poem written by English poet Francis Thompson
. The poem became famous and was the source of much of Thompson's posthumous reputation. The poem was first published in Thompson's first volume of poems in 1893. It was included in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse (1917). It was also an influence on J. R. R. Tolkien
, who read it a few years before that.
Francis Thompson
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...
. The poem became famous and was the source of much of Thompson's posthumous reputation. The poem was first published in Thompson's first volume of poems in 1893. It was included in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse (1917). It was also an influence on J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, who read it a few years before that.
Influence
- Thompson's poem was the inspiration for a series of 23 paintings by the American painter R. H. Ives GammellR. H. Ives GammellRobert Hale Ives Gammell , American muralist, portrait painter, art teacher, and writer on art, was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1893. In 1911, he enrolled in the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts...
(1893–1981). Titled, "A Pictorial Sequence Painted by R. H. Ives Gammell Based on The Hound of Heaven," it is considered Gammell's magnum opus. Gammell began making plans to execute the pictorial sequence during World War II and completed the series in 1956. For his paintings, Gammell used symbols drawn from C. G. Jung, primitive and medieval cultures, and biblical and mythological sources, to give visual form to Thompson's poem. The "Pictorial Sequence" is currently housed at the Maryhill Museum of ArtMaryhill Museum of ArtThe Maryhill Museum of Art is a small museum with an eclectic collection, located near Maryhill in the U.S. state of Washington.The structure was built as a mansion by entrepreneur Samuel Hill...
, Goldendale, WashingtonGoldendale, WashingtonGoldendale is a rural agricultural town in and the county seat of Klickitat County, Washington, United States, near the Columbia River Gorge. The population within city limits was 3,760 at the 2000 census and 3,407, a 9.4% decrease at the 2010 census. A nationally known point of interest is north...
, USA.
- Thompson's poem is also the source of the phrase, "with all deliberate speed," used by the Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in Brown II, the remedy phase of the famous decision on school desegregationDesegregationDesegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
.
- The Christian alternative rockChristian alternative rockChristian alternative rock is a form of alternative rock music that is lyrically grounded in a Christian worldview. Some critics have suggested that unlike CCM and older Christian rock, Christian alternative rock generally emphasizes musical style over lyrical content as a defining genre...
band Daniel AmosDaniel AmosDaniel Amos is a rock band formed in 1974 by Terry Scott Taylor on guitars and vocals, Marty Dieckmeyer on bass guitar, Steve Baxter on guitars and Jerry Chamberlain on lead guitars. Current members include bassist Tim Chandler, guitarist Greg Flesch and drummer Ed McTaggart...
wrote a song titled Hound of Heaven on their 1978 album Horrendous DiscHorrendous DiscHorrendous Disc is the title of the third studio album by the rock band Daniel Amos, that was recorded in 1978 and released in 1981 on Solid Rock Records.-Background:...
that is based on the Thompson poem.
- Christian artist Michael CardMichael CardMichael Card is an American Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. He is best known for his contributions in Contemporary Christian Music, which couple folk-style melodies and instrumentation with lyrics that stem from intensive study of the Bible...
wrote a song "Hound of Heaven" basing the lyrics on parts of Thompson's poem.
- The Substructure, a Christian underground band, wrote a song "Running Time" (released on the KUDZU Musicians' Sampler 1997) loosely based on Thompson's poem.
- "The Hound of Heaven" is a chapter in Robert L. Short's 1965 book The Gospel According to PeanutsThe Gospel According to PeanutsThe Gospel According to Peanuts is a best-selling 1965 book written by Presbyterian minister Robert L. Short about Charles M. Schulz's popular comic strip, Peanuts...
where he describes SnoopySnoopySnoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
as a "little Christ" carrying out "Christ's ambivalent work of humbling the exalted and exalting the humble."
- A character(Drysdale)in the Morse TV film based on Colin Dexter's novel, "The Last Enemy", quotes the first few lines of the poem to which Morse adds a few more lines (not wholly accurately).
- The Hound of Heaven was mentioned in the suicide note of George R. PriceGeorge R. PriceGeorge Robert Price was an American population geneticist. Originally a physical chemist and later a science journalist, he moved to London in 1967, where he worked in theoretical biology at the Galton Laboratory, making three important contributions: first, rederiving W.D...
, a geneticist who pioneered the evolutionary theory of altruism and suicide (among other things), before become a committed Christian and giving away all his possessions to the poor.
- Canadian Poet Phyllis Webb references "The Hound of Heaven" in her poem "Poetics Against the Angel of Death".
- Paramhansa Yogananda, the great Indian spiritual master, included "The Hound of Heaven" in one of his two albums, "Songs of My Heart".
- In A. J. CroninA. J. CroninArchibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known works are Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He also created the Dr...
's novel A Pocketful of RyeA Pocketful of RyeA Pocketful of Rye is a 1969 novel by A. J. Cronin about a young Scottish doctor, Carroll, and his life in Switzerland. It is a sequel to A Song of Sixpence....
the protagonist Carroll reads the poem as a young man, forgets it, and suffers from a recurring nightmare that finally leads to his conversion.
- A short passage from the poem appears in chapter four of Daphne du MaurierDaphne du MaurierDame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
's RebeccaRebecca (novel)Rebecca is a novel by Daphne du Maurier. When Rebecca was published in 1938, du Maurier became – to her great surprise – one of the most popular authors of the day. Rebecca is considered to be one of her best works...
.
External links
- "The Hound of Heaven" sources
- R. H. Ives Gammell: The Hound of Heaven by Elizabeth Ives Hunter
- Wikisource edition of the poem