This short
work began as an undergraduate essay, expanded into a senior thesis by Abrams
before being published by Harvard University Press in 1934. My 1970 Harper
& Row Perennial edition paperback includes a new introduction by the author
as well a selection of three works referenced in the text. These consist of two opium-inspired poems by
George Crabbe (who was an otherwise decidedly uninspired author) and a short story by Francis Thompson* entitled
“Finis Coronat Opus”. While Abrams’
work is a pleasant curiosity regarding opium use among 19th century
British authors, most obviously Coleridge and DeQuincey, it’s the Thompson
story that’s the real attraction here. This
is a tale of a vainglorious author of diabolical temperament who sacrifices his
true love to a demonic power for a transitory taste of fame. The suitably opulent - and somewhat creepy -
prose is informed (it is Abrams’ contention) by Thompson’s opium-induced visions.
I don’t
recall seeing “Finis Coronat Opus” heavily anthologized in any of the abundant,
and often repetitive, collections of classic horror stories, of which David
Tibet’s The Moons At Your Door is the
most recent example. Tibet has another
anthology on the way entitled There Is a
Graveyard That Dwells in Man; if it isn’t too late, perhaps he could
squeeze this little piece into it?
*Thompson,
whom I understand Chesterton enthused over, is considered a “Catholic” poet for
his major poem “The Hound of Heaven”, and is known to have spent a good portion
of his adult life on the streets as an opium fiend.
