A.E.+Housman


 * A.E. HOUSMAN **
 * Alfred Edward Housman **(March 26, 1859 – April 30, 1936) was born in Worcestershire, England and was the oldest of seven children. When he was twelve, his mother died of breast cancer. Set-off by his mothers death, he became Deist by the age 13, and soon after that became an atheist, which he remained for his entire life. His father later remarried. In school, Housman won awards for poetry; he also won a scholarship to St. John’s College, Oxford, where he studied the classics. He was especially fond of Latin classics, and became so involved in immersing himself in them that he failed two of his exams and did not earn his degree. While at Oxford, he fell in love with his roommate, Moses Jackson, who was heterosexual and thus did not reciprocate his feelings.

This did not end their friendship, and proceeding his schooling at Oxford Jackson, Housman got a job as a clerk in the Patent Office with Moses Jackson. They shared a flat along with Jackson’s brother until Jackson moved to India. When he returned to England to get married, Housman was not invited to the wedding and did not even know about it until the newlyweds had left the country.

Housman worked in the Patent Office for eleven years, and published essays on the Latin classic writers on the side (Horace, Ovid, Euripides, and Sophocles, to name a few). He began working as a professor of Latin at University College, London in 1892 because of his writings. In 1911 he took the Kennedy Professorship of Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge, and remained in that position for the rest of his life.

While Latin was his primary occupation, he also wrote poetry on the side. When no publishing house would take it, he self-published //A Shropshire Lad//, a book of 63 poems “speaking of loss and loneliness, Redcoats, hangings and ale” (Sullivan). The book became very successful several years after its publication.

Houseman's involvement in World War I helped increase his popularity as a poet. He donated a large portion of his money to the cause and contributed verses to The Blunderbuss, a magazine produced by troops; he also wrote several poems for his sister when her son was killed in action.

After the war, Housman heard that Jackson was dying of stomach cancer in British Columbia, Canada. He sent Jackson a collection of his best unpublished poems, which Jackson read before his death in 1922. These poems were published soon after, titled //Last Poems//, and it is believed that all of //Last Poems// was written only for Jackson. Housman did not publish any more poems during his lifetime. His brother Laurence published two more volumes of his poetry, //More Poems// and //Additional Poems//, after his death.

While he encouraged emotional responses to poetry, Housman himself was regarded as a cynical, scathing, distant man by the majority of people who knew him; he was a rather socially awkward, lonely man who could not relate well to others. However, he was genial, easygoing, and happy around his brother and sister-in-law, and was even observed playing with the Master of Trinity’s grandchildren. Housman lived in the same three Victorian rooms until he could no longer climb the stairs; he moved into Trinity’s older buildings for a time, and then moved into a nursing home on Trumpington Street, where he died in his sleep at the age of 77. He was cremated and buried in Ludlow, Shropshire, the location of his most famous poem.

"A. E. Housman." //New World Encyclopedia//. 3 Apr 2008. 14 Apr 2010. . Sullivan, Dick. "The Poetry of A. E. Housman: A Personal View." //The Victorian Web//. 1 July 2006. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

 A.E. Housman was quite firm in his belief that poetry should invoke emotions rather than intellect, and this belief is shown in his poems. He was unlike the other Victorian poets of his era in that his poems were straightforward and clear, while other poets tended to write with more of a flourish. Housman, while an avid reader of the Latin classics, was not greatly influenced by these works, instead speaking of the influence of Shakespeare, the Scottish Border Ballads, and Heinrich Heine.
 * STYLE **

Housman’s poems were generally rather pessimistic, conveying the cultural mindset of the time; he often employed irony and used nature imagery frequently. The majority of his poems dealt with death, while others spoke of the decay of youth, the fleeting nature of glory, and the monotony and pain that is life. As Housman was an atheist, there was no underlying hope of salvation in his poems. He has been called the poet of unhappiness, pain, and depression, because many of his poems conveyed and explored those emotions. His poems were often written in a simplistic folksong-style format, which made the poems easy to read and relate to.

"A. E. Housman." //New World Encyclopedia//. 3 Apr 2008. 10 Apr 2010. . Sullivan, Dick. "The Poetry of A. E. Housman: A Personal View." //The Victorian Web//. 1 July 2006. Web. 11 Apr. 2010.


 * POEM ANALYSIS **


 * EPITAPH ON AN ARMY OF MERCENARIES **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">These, in the day when heaven was falling // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The hour when earth’s foundations fled, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Follow’d their mercenary calling // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">And took their wages and are dead. //

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Their shoulders held the sky suspended; // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">They stood and earth’s foundations stay; // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What God abandon’d, these defended // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">And saved the sum of things for pay. // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> In the first stanza, the speaker, a European observer of the battle, tells of bombs that made it seem as if “heaven is falling”; when the bombs struck it made the ground shake, as if “earth’s foundations” had “fled.” The soldiers, however, did not flee, but rather stood firm and fought.

The speaker makes a reference to Atlas, the mythological Greek figure who holds the sky up (“Their shoulders held the sky suspended”) in the second stanza. Atlas literally had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and the line is meant to convey the importance of the soldiers; they too have the weight of the world on their shoulders in that if they failed, the German forces would move forward. When the ‘mercenaries’ stood firm, the world stabilized. Most Europeans felt that God had forsaken them in the War, and the soldiers were their last line of defense; they demonstrated their bravery by remaining behind when even God had left. The mercenaries saved the Allied Powers for pay.

The poem tells of an army of British soldiers – the British Expeditionary Force – who fought and died in the Battle of Ypres, a crucial World War I battle in which the casualties numbered half a million. While the term ‘mercenaries’ may seem derogatory, Housman was employing the term used in a German propagandist newspaper; the German forces were conscription- or draft-based, while the British Army was composed of volunteers (a pay-based force is often referred to as a mercenary force). The poem is also notable because it was very supportive of the war and of the British army – quite unusual for the time. Despite the terminology, the poem conveys a higher calling; the ‘mercenaries’ are motivated not by money, but by the fact that they are the last line of defense. “An Epitaph for an Army of Mercenaries” is much like the rest of Housman’s poems in that “it strikes to the pit of the emotions and by-passes thought” (Thwaite). It is a commendation of the bravery and valor of the BEF, which stood firm in the face of fire and paid the ultimate price.

//by Erin Vanek// <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;"> Ikura. "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries." //Everything2.com//. The Everything Development Company, 26 Mar. 2002. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. <http://everything2.com/title/Epitaph+on+an+Army+of+Mercenaries>. Thwaite, Anthony. "A. E. Housman: Overview." //Reference Guide to English Literature//. Ed. D. L. Kirkpatrick. 2nd ed. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. //Literature Resource Center//. Web. 1 Apr. 2010.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">THE LAWS OF GOD, THE LAWS OF MAN **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The laws of God, the laws of man // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">He may keep that will and can Not I: Let God and man decree // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Laws for themselves and not for me;

And if my ways are not as theirs // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Let them mind their own affairs. Their deeds I judge and most condemn // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Yet when did I make laws for them?

Please yourselves, Say I, and they // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Need only look the other way. But no, they will not; they must still // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Wrest their neighbor to their will,

And make me dance as they desire // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">With jail and gallows and hellfire And how am I to face the odds // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Of man's bedevilment and God's?

I, a stranger and afraid // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">In a world I never made They will be master, right or wrong; // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Though, both are foolish, both are strong

And since, my soul, we cannot flee // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">To Saturn or to Mercury Keep we must, If we can // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">These foreign laws of God and man //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">.

In the poem //The Laws of God, the Laws of Man//, Housman says that he does not want to listen to the laws of God. Overall the poem is simple to understand, but if read carefully Housman’s poems become deeper and more detailed. He believes that if the laws of others are different from his laws others should mind their own business because just as they may disapprove of some of the actions and beliefs of Housman, he disapproves most of their acts. Housman has a tendency to present internal debates with himself in his poetry and //The Laws of God, the Laws of Man// is no exception. He has an argument with himself because he is unsure if it is fare to condemn others because he didn’t make up their codes of conduct for them. He says that in order to live a fulfilling life you must do what makes you happy and not worry about what other people are doing. Housman dislikes religious groups because they try to force you to believe what they believe and perform acts that are in line with their codes of conduct. If one chose to not conform to the laws of the land or the laws of religious groups, it is likely they will be jailed, hung, or burn in hell for all eternity, and the consequences for not conforming to the rules scares him. The poem is ended with no conclusiveness in saying that whether the laws are right or wrong we must follow them simply because both God and man are powerful and force you to follow their laws.

//By: Elyce Doering//

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;">Wilkinson, Judith. "Reviews." //English Studies// 74.6 (1993): 579. //Academic Search Premier// EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">WHEN I WAS ONE-AND-TWENTY **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">When I was one-and-twenty // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">I heard a wise man say, ‘Give crowns and pounds and guineas // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">But not your heart away;

Give pearls away and rubies // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">But keep your fancy free.’ But I was one-and-twenty, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">I heard him say again, ‘The heart out of the bosom // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Was never given in vain; ‘Tis paid with sighs a plenty // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">And sold for endless rue.’ And I am two-and-twenty, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true. //

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker is referencing a time when he was young (21 years old). During this time he was told by a wise man to wantonly give up his riches but never his heart. This further translates into the idea that money does not hold a claim on our heart as love does. Or, in other words, we have the ability lose more when we give up our heart rather than our money. The youth have a thirst for knowledge can only be acquired through age and experience. That is why they tend to fall in love so quickly. They wish to be knowledgeable and experience everything life has to offer, love being one of its most enthralling opportunities. And since humans are born with the intrinsic instinct to find companionship, when it comes to love, they are all too trusting and naïve.

The wise man continues to preach to the speaker the importance of keeping his “fancy free”. This phrase can be taken to mean that love comes at a cost, and one who is in love is never truly free. Then, the speaker goes on to say that because he was young and unwilling to listen, to advise him was useless.

In the second stanza, when the speaker is still young, the wise man approaches him again with guidance. He tells the speaker that although the “heart out of the bosom was never given in vain; ‘tis paid with sighs a plenty and sold for endless rue’”. The wise man acknowledges the fact that love is never given in vain, but in time, the perpetual hold on one’s heart is burdensome. And this burden is the price one pays for love, which is worth “endless rue.”

It is this lesson the speaker finally learns by the end of the second stanza when he says “and I am two-and twenty, and oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true.” It is evident that he learned this lesson from personal experience, rather than from the wise man’s warnings.

This poem, like many of Housman’s, is extremely simplistic in style (Wilkinson). Deep and deceptive, //When I was one-and twenty// rings of “a voice of opposition.” It is easy to tell that the speaker struggles with the idea of being human in the sense that people tend to feel the need to be knowledgeable about everything. The concept of finding love is a mutual desire that is universally relatable to both the youth and those that are older. A.E. Housman’s idea to write a poem that speaks to generations today as it does the way it was written shows a true thoughtfulness on his part.

//by Kelly Cecora//

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;">Wilkinson, Judith. "Reviews." //English Studies// 74.6 (1993): 579. //Academic Search Premier// EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

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 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Discussion Questions **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;"> "A. E. Housman." //New World Encyclopedia//. 3 Apr 2008. 10 Apr 2010. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/A._E._Housman?oldid=686322>. Ikura. "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries." //Everything2.com//. The Everything Development Company, 26 Mar. 2002. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. <http://everything2.com/title/Epitaph+on+an+Army+of+Mercenaries>. Kopff, E. Christian. "Conservatism and Creativity in A.E. Housman." //Modern Age//. 3rd ed. Vol. 47. Wilmington: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2005. Pg 235. //EBSCO//. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. Rees, Gareth. AE Housman photo. Digital image. //GarethRees.org//. 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. <http://garethrees.org/2007/09/28/housman/housman.jpg>. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;">Sullivan, Dick. " <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;">A. E. Housman (1859-1936): A Life in Brief <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;">." //The Victorian Web//. 1 July 2006. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/housman/bio.html>. Sullivan, Dick. "The Poetry of A. E. Housman: A Personal View." //The Victorian Web//. 1 July 2006. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/housman/intro.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt;">Thwaite, Anthony. "A. E. Housman: Overview." //Reference Guide to English Literature//. Ed. D. L. Kirkpatrick. 2nd ed. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. //Literature Resource Center//. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. Wilkinson, Judith. "Reviews." //English Studies// 74.6 (1993): 579. //Academic Search Premier// EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
 * Works Cited**