Part of ‘The Kingdom of God’ by Francis Thompson goes like this:
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
cry – and upon thy sore loss
shall shine the traffic of Jacob’s ladder
pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross
English is not my native language and I didn’t know what Charing Cross was, so I turned to Wikipedia. According to that site Charing Cross is different geographic locations, especially a place in London. Is that the Charing Cross Francis Thompson is talking about?
I found the whole poem, and the last verse goes like this:
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry,—clinging Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water
Not of Gennesareth, but Thames!
That’d be an indication that Charing Cross in the poem is the place in London.
Yes, I think it must be. I can’t find any obvious reference to any other “charing cross” that would fit.
Concur. In context, it seems to be there as a reference to an ordinary, earthly commmonplace human location.
Charing cross is one of the main railway stations in London. Not sure if that has significance to the meaning in the poem
Charing cross station is named after the, historically more significant, medieval monument of the same name just in front of it. (Actually I think the current monument may be a Victorian reconstruction of the original, but anyway…)
Charing Cross is used as the marker for the very centre of London. I dint know if this is for any significant reasons other than geographic convenience but I know it is used to help measure distances to and from London. As such, it has a special place in the soul of London, along with the River Thames. At the time the poem would have been written, London would have been the largest, most important city on earth, so ‘Charing Cross’ would mark the centre of the world.
It certainly is referring to the place in London. The first thing that struck me was it the similarity to William Blake’s And did those feet (aka Jerusalem). It’s the notion that Victorian England is home to the second coming of Christ.
It is indeed a reconstruction. Recently cleaned and restored too.
True, although oddly it’s not in the Square Mile itself but in Westminster. I think it’s a convenient marker to measure from that has been there for centuries.
Ah I had no idea how old the poem was. These days if you say Charing cross to a Londoner I think most would think of the Station rather than the area or the monument. It’s like Paddington or Kings cross these days as in the name is synonymous of the Station rather than the area the station is located in.
Very true
Almost certainly a reference to London. Charing Cross is the central point of London; all road distances in the UK to “London” are supposedly measured to Charing Cross. It’s basically the same location as Trafalgar Square. Like others have mentioned, nowadays British people would take Charing Cross to refer to the tube and train station just off Trafalgar square, but apparently it originally referred to some monument built around there.
If the place to ascend to heaven turns out to be Charing Cross train station that’s going to be a serious anti-climax. 
I dunno - Harry Potter has his little afterlife chat with Dumbledore at King’s Cross Station. 
My initial reaction was the same as Mangetout’s, that Charing Cross is supposed to represent the mundane, in contrast to heaven. I’m leaning more towards that than the “centre of the world” interpretation.
Huh, I didn’t know the verse quoted, but I’ve sung the last verse and all the others except it, nearly forty years ago. But for whatever reason, I’ve spent all this time thinking Blake wrote it!
And another vote for this POV: it’s not meant to stress the importance of Victorian England, but that God isn’t to be sought thousands of miles away and centuries ago: He is here, on our doorstep, as much as anywhere else.
Nothing to add, except to recommend this movie, and the book on which it was based: 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) - IMDb
So heaven is located on a slightly dilapidated road with quite a few kebab shops and has a failed hotel?
This Londoner wouldn’t agree that Charing Cross only refers to the station. If someone tells me they’re working in Charing Cross, I wouldn’t immediately think of the station, but the area (roughly) between Northumberland Avenue and Duncannon Street. There’s also the Charing Cross Road, familiar to fans of Withnail and I or 84 Charing Cross Road (or anyone who’s ever tried to find an obscure second hand book in London. I bought all my uni books up there). Or if someone told me they were born at Charing Cross, I would think they referred to the very famous hospital, not to platform three.
I agree with both interpretations of why Charing Cross was chosen for the poem, by the way, and don’t see them as exclusive.
ETA: I didn’t click on Elendil’s Heir’s link to 84 Charing Cross Road till after I posted - please read the book first. The film’s good, but it’s no way anywhere near as good as the book.
Sometimes when I have a question I almost hope I can’t find the answer with google, because you know you get so much more taking it to the Straight Dope. Thanks all!
Charing Cross is also a very famous hospital, although probably much better known in the past. When my mother’s foster father worked there as a pediatrician, it was world reknowned. I suspect in the context of the poem, it was meant in the sense of the hospital, although the allusion is probably less meaningful now than it was.
Dammit, Cerowyn, we’d just reached near complete consensus and you had to come along with another viable theory.