This study endeavours to correlate the facts of Francis Thompson's life with the content of his works and so to arrive at some understanding of the underlying unconscious problems. The sublimation of these resulted in the greatest religious verse of the nineteenth century. Failure of sublimation resulted in the ineffectual, irresponsible Thompson who became an outcast and opium drinker.

The poet's intuitive power of transcribing unconscious experiences into analogous expression enables the psycho-analyst to understand