Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-03-04
bEESLEY CHARMS
IN HIS LECTURES
Young Member of Faculty Of Catholic
University Is Heard at the
Villa de Chantal,
FRANCIS THOMPSON HIS THEME
Mind and Art Of English Poet Discuss.
ed With Engaging Intimacy-Re-
cital of Verses.

| e-AAA ~'ShiAS; sCotcl udS, lelL an un-
erasable imprint upon his fortunate
| hearers, who will not be satisfied I'M
| til again they have the honor of his
! presence in recital. No one of the
many brilliant speakers who has been
| heard at the Villa in late years so
fascinated and completely enthralled
from the outset as he. In love with
his subject, he possesses the magnet
ism that lifts to its altitude the hearts
| Of his listeners. Francis Thompson:
His Mind and His Art" was the topic
OF the afternoon lecture. Mr.. Beesley
| has composed an appreciation which Is
| to do much toward giving the English
poet the recognition he so richly mer-
tied while living.
| Through avenue after avenue OF
beauty, tenderness, and the sanctity
of Thompson's published verse, now
| recognized as overshadowing anything
| since Tennyson's, he led, talked and
explained until one felt as if he knew
| the poet as friend. Commencing with
| Thompson's break with his father and
his departure from his home, the lee
| turer took his audience to the streets
| Of London, where the poet is found
| doing the most mental service for a
| livelihood that i'll sufficed; often with
no covering but the stars, he slept on
! the rain-soaked banks of the Thames,
or crept into hallway. Though starv-
inc iol- ND wifi
the use of drug, the fervent mag
! ination held sway and he breathed the
immortal chasm between body and
| spirit into verse. Reduced to such
odd Jobs as holding a horses head
while its owner shopped did not i'm
pair the least the soul flight of poor
! ly clad body. and his genius continued
to thrive. 1t was at this time that the
great hand of Love reached down and
helped him onto the steadying, upward
path of renewed hope and health.
! These first steps were guided by
woman of the street, whose better self
leaped to the bareJ soul of fellow
victim. She gave him a roof, saw that
he ate and slept, and even provided
! what seemed luxury and gave him af
| lection and understanding. In this
shelter he won his first tangible ap-
probation from the public and soon
was making friends in the literary
world and it was then the white light
of nobility shone still brighter in the
soul of the woman of the street, for
she urged him from her side and
pushed him to the arms of surer, safer
| friends. An exquisite poem is dedi-
Gated to this woman and her part in
| his redemption. Wilfrid and Alice
Meynell, distinguished English folk,
| became his guardian angels, and they
brought him to their country home
in Sussex, weaned him from the Gluten
of the drug and inspired him to visit
the Franciscan fathers, who, in their
retreat, accomplished his liberty and
gave him further impetus in that re-
! ligious fervor so markedly a charac-
teristic of his works, second only to
his worship of children, dominant
note in much of his verse. Look for
me in the nurseries Of heaven, he
says in one Of his poems. This was
the keynote of his existence-ado
ton of the freshly bestowed gift from
| God, the child Mr. Beesley places him
above that other lover of children, Ste
venson, in that Thompson sounds
| higher note in surrounding the child
with its true reflection Of the home.
The Making of VIOLA" which Mr..
| Beesley recited with cadence so eX-
i quisite it seemed song, reveals the
| imagery of Thompson. 1t portrays the
| Father OF Heaven and His instructions
+ to His angels, as, weave, hands an
: gelical, weave a wool of flesh to pail
weave, hands gelical-fesh to pail
our Viola" Likewise was his venera-
ton Of woman, and he advanced thar
! the poet lived his lines, How should
| | guage what beauty is her dole. Who
cannot see her countenance for her
soul, As birds see not the easement
for the sky? And, as t is check they
prove its presence by, l know not of
her body till l find My fight debarred
the heaven of her mind"
Recites Several Verses.
Artistically embellishing each rem
dition, Mr. Beesley places wreath OF
tender. courageous thought round his
favorite poet He recited with feet
ing The Poppy" Little Jesus" Her
Portrait" and other verses before en-
tering into the greatest of Thompson's
poems, The Hound Of Heaven" which
he gave a soul-stirring rendition.
Francis Thompson came to death by
! consumption, acquired in the days OF
| his poverty, but stayed a while by his
ardent love of life and friend. Mr..
Beesley gave by request some lines OF
his own, ITO Francis Thompson,
based on the fact "he died at dawn,
his passing was solitary
They disclosed him to be poet OF no
mean order.
The evening lecture was devoted TO
an exposition of the high literary quail
tiles Of Cardinal Newman. The lee
turer touched briefly on the important
change in Newman's religious convic-
tions and how they affected the quail
tv of his work, bringing him 10 the
pinnacle. He likened Newman's ex-
preston. 1.-THE Dream of Gerontius,"
to Mozart's Requiem. and made hap
DIV comparison OF "a man who in his
soul is a musician" His reading OF
the dream is fraught with emotional
heights and could not be given as well