Francis Thompson is widely recognized as a poet whose poems and works literally were a clear representation of a world full of splendor, a parallel universe to the one we know. His most acclaimed poem is "The Hound of Heaven", which saw his writings being appreciated by the masses before his death. His works represented a mix of the mystical and the natural. Some people claimed he was obsessed with death, as he wrote about pagan sacrifices and witches. Modern scholars associate this with his opium addiction. Biography Francis Thompson was born to parents who had a strong religious background as Catholics in the year 1859 (Chilton par. 1). Francis contracted a chest infection which saw him take opium medicinally as a painkiller. Francis later became addicted to taking the drug without rushing, an addiction that almost saw him waste his life. Francis Thompson had been raised in the Catholic Church and, when he grew up, he enrolled in Ushaw college to train as a priest. His efforts to become a priest were futile and he decided to take on his father's role and try medicine (Chilton par 1). He was admitted to Owens College and separately took the final exams to qualify as a surgeon. Francis, however, failed every time and eventually gave up. He then traveled to London in an attempt to find work. He could not hold down a job for a long time, this can be attributed to his opium addiction. He was once a shoemaker and then, due to lack of a source of income, he sold matchboxes and did other menial jobs. For much of the period from 1886 to 1888 he was homeless and sometimes begged for food on the streets of London. It was during this time when he was destitute that he sent his work to a newspaper, which published… . middle of sheet ......f Ottawa, 1952Husain, Itrat. The mystical element in the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century. New York: Bibo & Tannen Publisher, 1948O'Connell, Marita. Francis Thompson the poet of modern Catholicism. Loyola University of Chicago. (1941) Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/298Meynell, Everard. The Life of Francis Thompson. Charleston: BiblioBazaar, 2009Thompson, Francis. The night of pre-existence. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.oldpoetry.com/Francis_Thompson/From_The_Night_Of_ForebeingThompson, Francis. An anthem of the Earth. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/45894/Thompson, Francis. The Hound of Heaven. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.oldpoetry.com/Francis_Thompson/The_Hound_of_HeavenWoollen, C J. The Hound of Heaven. The Irish monthly. 77(913), 1949, 332-35