Francis Thompson and John Masefield had one thing in common: each wrote a poem that caused a sensation.
It might have been otherwise. Thompson fished around before settling on a career. He switched from Catholic seminary to medicine school, then to nothing in particular. He became – as often happened to gifted people in the 19th century – an opium addict and was rescued by Alice Meynell and her husband. He turned his attention to poetry and in 1890 wrote ‘The Hound of Heaven’. This daringly depicted the Creator pursuing a sinner like a hound after its prey until he ran him down and gained his submission. The poem is more or less forgotten today and people have chosen other ways of considering the relentless grace of God. They have not, however, bettered the imagery of a man battling with or against the grace of God. Thompson died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.
‘I fled him down the nights and down the days,’ the poem begins. Images cascade as the chase goes on. If anything, Thompson over-eggs the pudding. But the overwhelming image is that of pursuit. The sinner is being pursued by his Redeemer who intends only his highest good.
Something similar comes from Masefield. We all know his poems about the sea – ‘I must go down to the sea again’ and ‘Cargoes’. But Masefield was a master of narrative poems. One was about a pursuit, reminding us of Thompson: ‘Reynard the Fox’. In 1911 Masefield published ‘The Everlasting Mercy’. It was the story of a devil-may-care poacher, Saul Kane, who repents and turns from his violent and drunken ways. It was Sankey and Moody without the crowd-pleasing musical accompaniment and it went down well in Georgian England. It deserved to. The fact that it too is now more or less forgotten is an indication of how far society has moved from a sympathetic view of the human scene as a place of sin, repentance and forgiveness. Pondering the change, Saul prays:
‘O Jesus, drive the coulter deep
To plough my living man from sleep.’
BUSY LEYLAND
There’s a lot going on at St Andrew’s, Leyland, Lancashire. The website pitches in with ‘What is Christianity?’ and answers the question with cartoons. Its website is highly organised and easy to negotiate. The church has met for a Sunday morning Service on the Lawn. There is CAP assistance and Open Door. Members support medical and educational work in Uganda and Tanzania. The Vicar is David Whitehouse.
LOOKING EAST
Christ Church, Blackburn, Lancashire has its eyes fixed on the East as well as Blackburn. It supports contacts in Singapore, Japan and India. A hundred years ago Africa might have been the target.
OFFICE-HOLDERS
St James’s Church, Chorley, Lancs. must be amongst the church websites featuring the longest lists of office-holders. Everyone in the congregation has a job to do. The website is also replete with photographs. Leading the team is the Vicar, David Phillips.
ASSISTANT ED. WANTED
The editor of the parish magazine of St James’s church, Christleton serving five communities in Cheshire, is looking for an assistant. The 20-page magazine is strong on pictures and is enterprising in its choice of content. The Rector is Stefan Collier.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.
Comments