Sivin Kit’s Garden

I first came across this Poem is by Francis Thompson (1859 - 1907) in the Seminary library … though I’m not much of a poet and literature freak, the imagery and language caught me and dragged me through it’s passion and intensity (I had to perservere to finish this long poem! phew!!) A member at LiFE Group nudged me to get this! So …

Who is this guy Francis? Here’s two descriptions from the net:
A failure for so-long; a one-time opium addict; died of tuberculosis.
His poems, mainly religious, are rich in imagery and poetic vision.

Who was he? A brilliant addicted poet, a tortured soul, writing of the genius, the Godstuff, in us all. We can quest God or negate Him. Job, Jonah, Psalm 139 and Julian share this. The happiness is in the seeking, the misery in the denial. We are Prodigal Sons and Daughters of God, awaiting the Wedding Feast of Parables . . .

and now the Poem …