Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) was an English poet and classical scholar whose work became a major force in turn-of-the-century English poetry. Unlike his contemporaries, Houseman's poetry does not qualify as Romantic, Victorian or Modernist, and is not overly sentimental or optimistic; instead, his deeply pessimistic and ironic poetry, written clearly and succinctly, earned Housman notoriety as one of the foremost classicists of his time. His best-known work, «A Shropshire Lad», is a cycle of 63 poems set in a half-imaginative Shropshire, and explores themes of death, the fleetingness of love, and the passing of youth. The poems became increasingly popular at the time of World War I because of their depiction of brave English soldiers. In the early 1920s, Houseman's closest friend and old Oxford roommate, Moses Jackson, was dying, prompting Housman to compile his «Last Poems» for Jackson to read. The forty-one previously unpublished poems were so titled because Housman felt his inspiration had been exhausted. Indeed, these proved to be his last published works.
Alfred Edward Housman was an English poet and classical scholar whose work became a major force in turn of the century English poetry. Unlike his contemporaries, Housman’s poetry does not qualify as Romantic, Victorian, or Modernist, and is not overly sentimental or optimistic; instead, his deeply pessimistic and ironic poetry, written clearly and succinctly, earned Housman recognition as one of the foremost classicists of his time. His best-known work, “A Shropshire Lad”, is a cycle of 63 poems set in a half-imaginative Shropshire, and explores themes of death, the fleetingness of love, and the passing of youth. The poems became increasingly popular at the time of World War I because of their depiction of brave English soldiers. In the early 1920s, Housman’s closest friend and old Oxford roommate, Moses Jackson, was dying, prompting Housman to compile his “Last Poems” for Jackson to read. The forty-one previously unpublished poems were so titled because Housman felt his inspiration had been exhausted. These two volumes are combined together here in this representative collection of Housman’s works.
Few volumes of poetry in the English language have enjoyed as much success with both literary connoisseurs and the general reader as A. E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad, first published in 1896. Scholars and critics have seen in these timeless poems an elegance of taste and perfection of form and feeling comparable to the greatest of the classic. Yet their simple language, strong musical cadences and direct emotional appeal have won these works a wide audience among general readers as well.This finely produced volume, reprinted from an authoritative edition of A Shropshire Lad, contains all 63 original poems along with a new Index of First Lines and a brief new section of Notes to the Text. Here are poems that deal poignantly with the changing climate of friendship, the fading of youth, the vanity of dreams — poems that are among the most read, shared, and quoted in our language.
A Shropshire Lad by A. E. Housman libreka classics – These are classics of literary history, reissued and made available to a wide audience. Immerse yourself in well-known and popular titles!