The Hound of Heaven

by Francis Thompson

THE HOUND OF HEAVEN

By FRANCIS THOMPSON

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
STELLA LANGDALE

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1926

COPYRIGHT, 1922,
BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, INC.
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

INTRODUCTION

The Rev. Mark J. McNeal, S. J., who was one of the successors of Lafcadio Hearn in the chair of English Literature at the Tokyo Imperial University, in an interesting article recounts the following incident of his experience in that institution. "I was seated on the examining board with Professor Ichikawa, the dean of the English department... There entered the room a student whom I recognized as among the best in the class, a sharp young chap with big Mongolian eyes, and one who had never to my knowledge given any hint of even a leaning toward Christianity. I remembered, however, that his thesis submitted for a degree had been a study of Francis Thompson. Following the usual custom, I began to question him about his thesis.

"'Why did you choose Thompson?'

"'Well, he is quite a famous poet.'