Francis Thompson

He was the poet who wrote the great poem 'Daisy' a thing of beauty that will never die
About his love for one he knew in childhood who near broke the heart of a sensitive teenage boy
And later on he wrote the 'Hound of Heaven' a poem in colleges that lives today
And one might say he truly lived his verses and nothing easy ever came his way.

Addicted to opium he was one of many in those bleak times who knew great poverty
The Meynells Wilfrid and Alice helped him in no small way and perhaps saved him from obscurity
Some famous poets have lived a tough existence and only in death of hardship they were free
In a fair World they should not have had to suffer though life is never as fair as it should be.

In life the poet from Preston struggled for recognition and he died without a penny to his name
And though posthumously he became very famous to a dead person what's the use in fame
'Twas George Bernard Shaw said 'Life was not meant to be easy' and he should have added at least not for the bard
And Francis Thompson who died in his late forties was one who slept rough and lived it very hard.

Poor Francis Thompson was a humble fellow he never thought that as a poet he'd rate
And though to him now it really does not matter he is considered a poetic great
For many years he lived on the streets homeless and though his name lives on in literature today
I'd rather have a house and a warm bed to sleep in than have to live my life in such a way.