Victorian Ode - For Jubilee Day, 1897

First printed for private circulation at The Westminster Press in 1897, this is a Victorian ode written for the Jubilee in 1897 by Francis Thompson. Francis Thompson (1859-1907) was an English mystic and poet. Thompson went to medical school when he was 18, but left home at the age of 26 to pursue a life of writing. He was homeless for three years, becoming an opium addict and supporting himself through whatever means available. A married couple read his poetry and took him into their home 1888, and in 1893 he published his first book, "Poems". Other notable works by this author include: "The Poppy" (1893), "Sister Songs" (1895), and "Shelley" (1909). This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with a chapter from Benjamin Franklin Fisher's "Francis Thompson, Essays" (1917).