
When she lit her glimmering tapers Round the day's dead sanctities Page 52]
THE HOUND OF HEAVEN - By FRANCIS THOMPSON
ILLUSTRATIONS - When she lit her glimmering tapers......... Frontispiece - Titanic glooms of chasmed fears - Across the margent of the world I fled - I said to dawn: Be sudden - I knew how the clouds arise - Naked I wait Thy love's uplifted stroke! - Yea, faileth now even dream - The hid battlements of Eternity - Whether man's heart or life it be which yields - I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways - Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside (missing from book) - Thunder-driven, They clanged His chariot - In her wind-walled palace - I shook the pillaring hours - And now my heart is as a broken fount - That Voice is round me like a bursting sea
THE HOUND OF HEAVEN
In this quietly powerful collection, the poet invites listeners into a world where longing and faith intertwine. The verses trace a restless soul that flees the divine, only to discover a relentless, tender pursuit that feels both urgent and intimate. Through vivid images—glimmering tapers, chasmed fears, and a hound that never gives up—the work captures the paradox of seeking and being sought.
The language is lush yet precise, balancing mystic awe with everyday detail, making each line feel like a whispered confession. Listeners will feel the tension between doubt and hope as the narrator wrestles with love, redemption, and the sense of a presence that follows everywhere. This is a meditation on spiritual yearning that resonates across cultures, offering both comfort and challenge to anyone who has ever run from something greater than themselves.
Language
en
Duration
~49 minutes (47K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Al Haines
Release date
2009-12-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1859–1907
Best known for the haunting poem "The Hound of Heaven," this English poet wrote with unusual intensity about faith, suffering, and grace. His life was difficult and often unstable, but that struggle gave his work its distinctive emotional force.
View all books
by Francis Thompson

by Francis Thompson

by Francis Thompson

by Francis Thompson

by Francis Thompson

by Dion Boucicault

by Order of the Eastern Star. General Grand Chapter

by Maria Edgeworth