What do you think?
Rate this book
The Poems of A. E. Housman
This is a complete edition of A. E. Housman's poetry, which aims to reveal the shaping processes of his poetic thought. To the major poetry of The Collected Poems (1939) it adds a substantial body of light verse and juvenilia, some of it printed, or collected, for the first time; and it revises the texts - particularly the posthumously published poems and notebook fragments - in the light of a comprehensive survey of manuscript and printed sources, recording all textual variants. As well as charting his compositional practices, the edition illuminates the many sources, from biblical and classical to contemporary, which influenced Housman - consciously or unconsciously - in his choice of ideas, images, and phraseology. Drawing on the poet's two commonplace books, works he is known to have read, and volumes from his library, the editor's commentary aims to trace the remarkable range of his echoes and allusions. The introduction and commentary also cover dating and other textual matters, information on persons, places, and historical context, and Housman's linguistic usage.
- GenresPoetry
640 pages, Hardcover
First published December 18, 1997
About the author
A.E. Housman
191 books147 followers
A Shropshire Lad
(1896) and
Last Poems
(1922) apparently published works of British poet and scholar Alfred Edward Housman, brother of Laurence Housman and Clemence Housman.
To his fellow noted classicists, his critical editing of Manilius earned him enduring fame.
The eldest of seven children and a gifted student, Housman won a scholarship to Oxford, where he performed well but for various reasons neglected philosophy and ancient history subjects that failed to pique his interest and consequently failed to gain a degree. Frustrated, he gained at job as a patent clerk but continued his research in the classical studies and published a variety of well-regarded papers. After a decade with such his reputation, he ably obtain a position at University College London in 1902. In 1911, he took the Kennedy professorship of Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he remained for the rest of his life.
As a scholar, Housman concentrated on Latin. He published a five-volume critical edition, the definitive text, of his work on " Astronomica " of Manilus from 1903 to 1930. Housman the poet produced lyrics that express a Romantic pessimism in a spare, simple style. In some of the asperity and directness in lyrics and also scholarship, Housman defended common sense with a sarcastic wit that helped to make him widely feared.
There are several biographies of Housman, and a The Housman Society http://www.housman-society.co.uk/
To his fellow noted classicists, his critical editing of Manilius earned him enduring fame.
The eldest of seven children and a gifted student, Housman won a scholarship to Oxford, where he performed well but for various reasons neglected philosophy and ancient history subjects that failed to pique his interest and consequently failed to gain a degree. Frustrated, he gained at job as a patent clerk but continued his research in the classical studies and published a variety of well-regarded papers. After a decade with such his reputation, he ably obtain a position at University College London in 1902. In 1911, he took the Kennedy professorship of Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he remained for the rest of his life.
As a scholar, Housman concentrated on Latin. He published a five-volume critical edition, the definitive text, of his work on " Astronomica " of Manilus from 1903 to 1930. Housman the poet produced lyrics that express a Romantic pessimism in a spare, simple style. In some of the asperity and directness in lyrics and also scholarship, Housman defended common sense with a sarcastic wit that helped to make him widely feared.
There are several biographies of Housman, and a The Housman Society http://www.housman-society.co.uk/
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 23, 2021
Constrained by a kind of “courtly lovelornness,” Housman’s poetry is marked by stilted meter and predictable rhymes, often wrung of genuine feeling to retain a respectable distance from the pain of his heart’s unspeakable sorrow.
Favorite poems:
“When I Was One-and-Twenty”
“Epitaph of an Army of Mercenaries”
“They Say my Verse Is Sad: No Wonder”
Favorite poems:
“When I Was One-and-Twenty”
“Epitaph of an Army of Mercenaries”
“They Say my Verse Is Sad: No Wonder”
August 22, 2021
Poetry of war and loss
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews