AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

In this work, the investigator purposed to make an intensive study of the imagery contained in the poetry of Francis Thompson in order thereby to reveal (1) his intimate knowledge of the liturgy of the Church and (2) his deep reverence for nature as a stepping-stone to the Creator of all Beauty, Who is not nature but Who is present in nature. The images representing the liturgy and nature were selected and explained and the thought that Thompson attempted to convey in his poetry was presented. From the study of imagery in the poetry of Francis Thompson, it may be concluded that for him poetry was a means of expressing the moat important message to mankind —- the magnificence of the eternal world to show forth a shadow of that infinite beauty that awaits the just. For him this was the dominant message conveyed in his work. There have been few poets who have been able to look steadily at life and realize its limitations and the vast expanse of an unlimited eternity. To him this was the reality and to this truth he directed all his writings.