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31:3 Book Reviews not, in any obvious way at least, even reügious. Reading Created To Praise, I found myself wondering if someone with EUsberg's evident interest in theology would not serve the poetry better by considering it, not in the light of traditional Catholic theology, the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola and the philosophy of Duns Scotus, but the philosophy of Heidegger or the existentialist theology of the Oxford theologian John MacQuanie. EUsberg might be able to undertake such a task, since among the virtues of her book is its clarity when dealing with issues that are abstruse. But even taking one's reservations into account, Created To Praise is rewarding . EUsberg sets out to illuminate what Hopkins believed and to show the relevance of those beliefs for his poetry, and on balance she succeeds. P. E. Mitchell University of Toronto FRANCIS THOMPSON Beverly Taylor. Francis Thompson. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987. $22.95 Beverly Taylor's Francis Thompson is a book with a very clear thesis—Thompson deserves to be better known. To many readers he is the author of "The Hound of Heaven" and a few more oft-anthologized poems. To others his Ufe as a drugaddicted vagrant has proven more interesting than his writings. Taylor beUeves the time has come for a re-evaluation of Thompson. She contends that previous studies, with their strong religious and biographical focus, do not suggest his true range or artistic stature. Her avowed purpose in this study is "to introduce the neglected Thompson, suggesting the quality of the conscious craftsman who has remained obscured by the Catholic apologist and the imagined bohemian." Working within the limits of the Twayne English Authors Series, Taylor succeeds in making her readers aware of a much broader Thompson, a writer of far-ranging interests and conscious craftsmanship, a gifted prose writer as well as a poet. The book accomplishes its purpose effectively, providing a biographical sketch, a study of Thompson's poetry and prose writings, and a judicious assessment of his work with its strengths and weaknesses. It also contains a selective bibliography and excellent notes. In her account of Thompson's life Taylor attempts to present as accurate a view as possible of this man whose harsh life and mystical poetry seem so incongruous . She emphasizes the details that in one way or other affected his writing —his Catholic upbringing, his failure to succeed in the pursuit of priestly and medical careers, his opium addiction, his vagrancy, his rescue by Wilfrid Meynell, his relations with three women—a London prostitute, Maggie Brien, and Katie King—and his friendship with Coventry Patmore. For readers unfamiliar with Thompson's life, Taylor's account serves as an adequate introduction. Her 365 31:3 Book Reviews treatment of the relationship with Wilfrid Meynell is a balanced one. Meynell in a sense adopted Thompson, became his guide and critic in literary matters, encouraged his talents, published his writings, and ananged for him to contribute to periodicals. Thompson, on his part, through his writings helped Meynell to estabUsh the reputation of his journal Merry England. Although Thompson had written some poems and prose earlier, it was after his "discovery" by Meynell that he began a period of great productivity. From this resulted three collections—Poems (1893), Sister Songs (1895), and New Poems (1897)—as well as numerous essays, reviews, and poems in periodicals until the time of his death in 1907. Taylor in a limited space gives a clear and objective account of a life too easily sentimentalized or sensationalized. The rest of the book focuses on Thompson's writings, and reading it, particularly the chapters dealing with his poems, almost calls for having a copy of his works beside one. It is one of the strengths of this study that it sends the reader to the poems themselves. Taylor's method is to comment on the content and style of each work, at times paraphrasing, at times evaluating. Chapter Two focuses primarily on Thompson's first published volume, Poems. Although Taylor describes it as an uneven collection, she notes that it nevertheless secured its author a place in English letters, for it contains "The Hound of Heaven...

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