By Mary Lackie

“I fled Him down the nights and down the days, I fled Him down the arches of the years...” wrote Francis Thompson during temporary seclusion in a monastery in Wales.

He was still pursued years after his death by a persistent scholar, Myrtle Pihlman Pope. When Mrs. Pope read Thompson’s famous poem, “The Hound of Heaven,” she could not understand many illusions in the English poet’s writing. “I got madder and madder because I needed to understand this poem in order to write and analyze his poetry,” she said.

Armed with her Ph.D. from the U. of Chicago and with the permission of Dr. Baugh, head of the English department at the U. of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Pope went straight to the leading American authority on the writings of Francis Thompson. He was the late Terrence L. Connolly, then curator of the Thompson collection at Boston College and editor of three books of the poet’s criticisms, essays and poetry. In 1948 Father Connolly purchased rights to Thompson’s unpublished works for the Boston Collection from Thompson’s English publishers and friends, the Meynell family.

Mrs. Pope told Father Connolly, “I am not a Catholic and I do not intend to become one,” but she needed to know more about the influence of Catholicism on Thompson’s writings and to study the Boston Collection so that her work would be authentic and accurate. With the help of Father Connolly, Mrs. Pope began a seven year investigation that led to her Ph.D. thesis on the literary criticism of Francis Thompson.

The publication of her thesis did not mark the end of her search. An air of controversy swirled around the poet. Encouraged by Dr. John Pick of Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., and a member of the Modern Language Association, Mrs. Pope continued her work. “I was after the truth about Thompson,” she said, “I did not intend to attack anyone, nor to gloss over the errors of others, but I knew something was missing.” She discovered an unpublished essay by Thompson in the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. One reason that made the work difficult was “because sometimes Thompson published writings under an assumed name.” Mrs. Pope read Thompson’s letters, obtained a copy of his baptismal certificate -- “he was born Dec. 18, 1859--” she said, gazing at the certificate written in Latin.

And 107 years after his birth and 16 years since the beginning of her pursuit, Mrs. Pope asks, “Was he a saint above all earthly life, or was he a Bohemian? Her answer is, “He was neither. He was superbly masculine man with an exceptionally chaste heart and soul. Yes, he suffered from tuberculosis and the treatment at that time was drugs. He became addicted, but overcame his addiction.

He continued writing literary criticism to the last month before his death in 1907.”

“He was always deeply conscious of human suffering and had a profound pity for life in the London slums and a deep affection for children.” Thompson may not be “in” with modern scholars, she said, but he is really more “in” than they are -- and in many cases, more intellectual, too.

She bases her careful judgements of Thompson’s works on what he really said; on his poetry, literary criticism, she says, and letters. “He is the greatest literary critic of all times,” said Mrs. Pope, who sorted through his literary criticism which spans seven centuries and read his poetry which has been translated into all languages, including African dialect. She read his works in five languages in addition to British and American editions. “Further,” she said, “he was the forerunner of T. S. Eliot and Herbert Read.” All three wrote for the same English journals -- the “Athenaeum” and the “Academy”. Thompson’s first poem appeared in “Merry England”, a literary review published by Wilfred Meynell.

Thompson’s godson, Sir Frances Maynell, is publisher of “the elegant Nonesuch Press,” Mrs. Pope said, “and has given his promise not to use his influence to repress the works in her book. The Renascence Society announced, “Only now is a full portrait of Francis Thompson available.”

Thompson does not need defenders; his work speaks for itself, said Mrs. Pope. Her microfilm publication bears the heavy title: “Francis Thompson edited from the Original Manuscripts with Glossary and Notes by Myrtle Pihlman Pope, Ph.D., together with Two Previously Unpublished Essays by Thompson and a Documented Chronology of the Disputed Facts of the Life of Francis Thompson, Poet and Critic.” The rare book was published May, 1966, by University Microfilms of Ann Arbor and London. It is copyrighted and copying may be done only with the permission of the editor, who is eager to make the material known.

Mrs. Pope has composed an eight part chorale for Thompson’s poem, “The Passion of Mary,” and written a play based on Tolstoi’s short story, “The Death of Ivan Illytch.” The play, “Ivan Illycth,” is one currently under consideration for production by Theatre Atlanta.