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The Poems of A. E. Housman
This is the first complete edition of A. E. Housman's poetry, unprecedented in the extent to which it reveals the shaping processes of his poetic thought. The text of the poems published after his death has been corrected from the manuscripts, with all variant readings recorded, and a substantial body of light verse and juvenilia is printed or collected for the first time....more
Hardcover, 640 pages
Published
March 5th 1998
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 1971)
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Unrequited love and youthful death are the author's recurrent themes. Always forthright and devoid of the esoteric and modernistic qualities of more revered poets, Housman's work, though imbued with a pronounced melancholy, is never strident or sanctimonious. It is through the symmetry of theme that Housman achieves the solemnity which lends these justly celebrated poems their stature.
I feel that any discussion of A. E. Housman's poetry should first acknowledge that he was never a poet in ...more
I feel that any discussion of A. E. Housman's poetry should first acknowledge that he was never a poet in ...more
I'm not a form poet, mostly because I suck at it. I usually don't read form, either, because I start to sing-song it in my head when I hear the rhythm, and then I take too long to finish whatever I'm reading because I sing the whole thing. A. E. Houseman's Collected Poems are no exception. I sang the collection. Contrary to my normal tastes, however, I liked a lot of the poems. They were beautiful. I don't often say that about poetry.
Here's a collection of simple storied verse conta...more
Here's a collection of simple storied verse conta...more
In general, I am not too fond of Housman's poetry for the simple reason that he is stark, brooding, pessimistic, disappointed (e.g., in love and friendship, to the point of cynicism), and morose. However, even the most negative poems offer glimmers of insight, and one such example is perhaps his most famous work:
It is in truth iniquity on high
To cheat our sentenced souls of aught they crave,
And mar the merriment as you and I
Fare on our long fool's-errand to the gra...more
It is in truth iniquity on high
To cheat our sentenced souls of aught they crave,
And mar the merriment as you and I
Fare on our long fool's-errand to the gra...more
They say that the criticism of poets is borne out in the kind of poetry they write. The man's "does the beard bristle in the morning shave" test passes muster with his own poetry. I like the quiet plangency of the following:
Because I liked you better
Than suits a man to say,
It irked you, and I promised
To throw the thought away.
To put the world between us
We parted, stiff and dry;
'Good-bye,' said you, 'forget me.'
...more
Because I liked you better
Than suits a man to say,
It irked you, and I promised
To throw the thought away.
To put the world between us
We parted, stiff and dry;
'Good-bye,' said you, 'forget me.'
...more
every now and again Housman fits my mood perfectly- mainly when i'm feeling unbearably pessimistic and broken. Having read about his (apparently) unrequited love for his dear friend Jackson makes Housman's poetry even more depressing to read. If you're in a good mood, his writing will seem either petty or change your disposition rather drastically. If you're miserable, hide anything sharp before reading.
Yes, I know. How dreadfully unfashionable! And yet... I've loved Housman's poetry since high school. I love his pastiches of both Sappho and the Greek Anthology, I love the clear-eyed and Stoic sense of fate and loss, I love the crisp precision. This is a volume I've had on my shelves since I was sixteen--- replaced over and over. And it'll always be a favourite.
Forgive the format but I couldn't resist:
I read this collection
Whilst suffering the heat
Of another year's vacation
And found the writer neat.
While maudlin and morose,
Houseman's depiction of youthful love
As naive, beautiful and verbose
Fit my memories of it like a glove.
I read this collection
Whilst suffering the heat
Of another year's vacation
And found the writer neat.
While maudlin and morose,
Houseman's depiction of youthful love
As naive, beautiful and verbose
Fit my memories of it like a glove.
I don't like Housman as a rule although I know the Shropshire Lad is very well liked. Something about his way of looking at the world sets my teeth on edge...
Caution. My copy (bought second-hand) has a production error. P. 49-80 are missing. After p. 112, p. 81-112 are repeated.
One of my favorites:
XVI
How clear, how lovely bright
How beautiful to sight
Those beams of morning play;
How heaven laughs out with glee
Where, like a bird set free,
Up from the eastern sea
Soars the delightful day.
To-day I shall be strong,
No more shall yield to wrong,
Shall squander life no more;
Days lost, I know not how,
I shall retrieve them now;
Now I shall keep the vow
I never kept befor...more
XVI
How clear, how lovely bright
How beautiful to sight
Those beams of morning play;
How heaven laughs out with glee
Where, like a bird set free,
Up from the eastern sea
Soars the delightful day.
To-day I shall be strong,
No more shall yield to wrong,
Shall squander life no more;
Days lost, I know not how,
I shall retrieve them now;
Now I shall keep the vow
I never kept befor...more
Along with Swinburne, one of the finest and under-read poets of the Victorian Period.
The poems here are haunting yet beautiful and economic.
favorite poem
Untitled by A.E. Housman
I to my perils
Of cheat and charmer
Came clad in armour
By stars benign.
Hope lies to mortals
And most believe her,
But man’s deceiver
Was never mine.
The thoughts of others
Were light and fleeting,
Of lovers’ meeting
Or luck or fame.
Mine were of trouble,
And mine were steady,
So I was ready
When trouble came.
Untitled by A.E. Housman
I to my perils
Of cheat and charmer
Came clad in armour
By stars benign.
Hope lies to mortals
And most believe her,
But man’s deceiver
Was never mine.
The thoughts of others
Were light and fleeting,
Of lovers’ meeting
Or luck or fame.
Mine were of trouble,
And mine were steady,
So I was ready
When trouble came.
What stood out in Housman's writing was the interesting way he mixed humor and grief. It was a clever style that created some unique poems. However, it remains as 4, instead of 5, stars because there was nothing that stood out to me as one of the best. It simply had a clever feel that made it interesting to read.
I fell in love with A.E. Housman's poetry when I was a freshman in high school. Easily my favorite poet, his written word often leaves me with goosebumps and tears welling up in my eyes. That, to me, is the sign of true talent. I cannot say enough about this man's work! Buy the book. You won't be sorry.
I've gone through phases with Housman--I loved his poetry in high school, then in college I decided it was too simple. Now, I love it for its surface simplicity & hidden depths. My all time favorite is "Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff."
One of my all-time favorite poems is in this Housman collection, and I cant remember the name of the poem.....
Really love his poetry, but the essay at the end analyzing poetry, was a bit over my head.
Poems about the grave, execution, dying for the Queen, and wooing your dead buddy's girl.
Wholly wonderful - the perfect distillation of what makes us human
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Alfred Edward Houseman was born on March 26, 1859 in Fockbury, Worcestershire, England. He was an English scholar and celebrated poet whose lyrics express a Romantic pessimism in a spare, simple style. Housman regarded himself principally as a Latinist and avoided the literary world. In 1911 he became professor of Latin at Cambridge, teaching there almost up to his death. His major scholarly effor...more
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“Halt by the headstone naming
The heart no longer stirred,
And say the lad that loved you
Was one that kept his word.”
—
3 people liked it
The heart no longer stirred,
And say the lad that loved you
Was one that kept his word.”
“Could man be drunk for ever
With liquor, love, or fights,
Lief should I rouse at morning
And lief lie down of nights.
But men at whiles are sober
And think by fits and starts,
And if they think, they fasten
Their hands upon their hearts.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
With liquor, love, or fights,
Lief should I rouse at morning
And lief lie down of nights.
But men at whiles are sober
And think by fits and starts,
And if they think, they fasten
Their hands upon their hearts.”
