Poems (Esprios Classics)

Francis Thompson (16 December 1859 - 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father a doctor he entered medical school at the age of 18 but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer and poet. He spent three years on the streets of London supporting himself with menial labour becoming addicted to opium which he took to relieve a nervous problem. In 1888 a married couple publishers read his poetry and took him into their home for a time. They were to publish his first book Poems in 1893. In 1897 he switched to writing prose drawing inspiration from life in the countryside Wales and Storrington.