A. E. (Alfred Edward) Housman

A. E. (Alfred Edward) Housman
Alfred Edward Housman (1859–1936) was an English classical scholar and poet, best known for his collection of poems "A Shropshire Lad" (1896). His poetry, marked by themes of rural life, fleeting youth, and the inevitability of death, resonated with readers during times of war and personal loss. In addition to his poetry, Housman was a respected scholar of Latin, holding the chair of Latin at both University College London and later at Cambridge. His critical approach to classical texts, particularly in "Manilius" and "Lucan," earned him a reputation for both meticulous scholarship and caustic wit.

Author's Books:


INTRODUCTION The method of the poems in A Shropshire Lad illustrates better than any theory how poetry may assume the attire of reality, and yet in speech of the simplest, become in spirit the sheer quality of loveliness. For, in these unobtrusive pages, there is nothing shunned which makes the spectacle of life parade its dark and painful, its ironic and cynical burdens, as well as those images with... more...

I. THE WEST Beyond the moor and the mountain crest—Comrade, look not on the west—The sun is down and drinks awayFrom air and land the lees of day. The long cloud and the single pineSentinel the ending line,And out beyond it, clear and wan,Reach the gulfs of evening on. The son of woman turns his browWest from forty countries now,And, as the edge of heaven he eyes,Thinks eternal thoughts, and sighs.... more...