New Poems

Thompson, Francis, 1859-1907Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 143K words
Chapters: 15

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.New Poems by Francis ThompsonAuthor: Thompson, Francis, 1859-1907,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 1, 1998

Editor's review

This is the Project Gutenberg electronic edition of New Poems, a poetry collection by the English poet Francis Thompson, a public-domain text classified under English literature. Thompson's poetry is known for its meticulous sound and dense imagery; his religious meditation and writing on the shadows of the city were distinctive in the late nineteenth-century English poetic scene. This edition is a free electronic text, convenient for readers to engage directly with the original, and suitable as supplementary reading for understanding late Victorian poetry. When reading, one might attend to its metrical arrangement and convoluted syntax and feel the tension between faith and despair in the poet. As a public-domain e-book, it has no modern annotation, so readers need some experience in reading English poetry and background knowledge. It is suitable for literature course reference, the study of poetry translation, or close reading of the original, and is not recommended as introductory English reading material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English literature students who need to study the original texts of late Victorian poetry
Poetry translation enthusiasts who want to observe the handling of sound and syntax
Readers interested in religious poetry, as extended reading
Readers who already read English originals and prefer short texts

Not a good fit for

Readers with weak English, for whom the original is a high threshold
Beginners who want detailed notes and an introduction
Readers who prefer modern free-verse poetry or contemporary subjects

Reading tips

Read through once to feel the rhythm, then look up words poem by poem and mark unfamiliar syntactic structures
Read alongside material on the history of late nineteenth-century English poetry to understand the context of religious and urban writing
Choose shorter poems to read aloud and appreciate the arrangement of sound and pauses

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this e-book have a Chinese translation or notes?

This edition is a public-domain English electronic text provided by Project Gutenberg and usually contains no Chinese translation or modern scholarly annotation. Readers need to rely on dictionaries and background material themselves; it suits readers with some experience in reading English poetry.

I haven't read other works by Thompson; can I read this directly?

Yes, but it is advisable first to get an overview of late nineteenth-century English poetry and to start with the shorter poems. Thompson's imagery and syntax are rather convoluted, and it is easy to struggle without background knowledge.

Is this book suitable for classroom use?

It is suitable as supplementary material for English literature courses or poetry translation classes, especially for discussing sound and religious themes. But because it lacks annotation, teachers need to prepare background explanations and vocabulary notes separately.

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About the author

Thompson, Francis, 1859-1907 Author

Francis Thompson (Thompson, Francis, 1859-1907) was an English poet whose biographical details are limited in publicly available sources, though his works reveal his character as a writer. He is best known for "The Hound of Heaven," a poem built on the images of a fleeing soul and pursuing divine grace, written in intense, rhythmic language. Besides "Poems" and "New Poems," he wrote "Sister Songs," "Shelley: An Essay," and the occasional "Victorian Ode for Jubilee Day, 1897." His verse carries on the Romantic tradition, with elaborate imagery and fervent emotion, often tinged with religious reflection; a selection, "Selected Poems of Francis Thompson," also remains in circulation.