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198 KIPLING'S SUSSEX
I hid from Him and under running laughter
Up vistaed hopes, I sped ;
And shot, precipitated Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears, From those strong Feet that followed, followed after."
There we see in one flash the sorrow of man— the dreamer, drifting willy-nilly in search of that peace which is not of this world. In 1897 Thompson became a regular contributor to the Academy, which gave him as many books of theology, history, biography and poetry as he cared to review. The staff used to exclaim aloud when they read his proofs (on his splendid handling of a subject demanding the best literary knowledge and insight). He was " gentle in looks, half-wild in externals, his face worn by pain and the fierce reactions of laudanum, his hair and straggling beard neglected, he had yet a distinction and an aloofness of bearing that marked him in the crowd; and when he opened his lips he spoke as a gentleman and a scholar." His coming brought new life into the office. His friend says: " Unem-bittered, he kept his sweetness and sanity, his dewy laughter, and his fluttering gratitude. . . . I think the secret of his strength was this: that he had cast up his accounts with God and man, |
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