Alfred Edward Housman and Death - Literature review Example

A.E. Housman and Death The poet Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) spent most of his life as a of Latin, but he’s remembered because he published two books of poetry during his lifetime that had an impact on the literate community. The first book, which has never been out of print, was “A Shropshire Lad” (1896). The second book was called “Last Poems” and was published in 1922. After Housman died, though, his brother published two more volumes called “More Poems” and “Additional Poems.” “A Shropshire Lad” is described as “a collection of sixty-three poems addressing the themes of unrequited love, the oblivion of death, and idealized military life” (A.E. Housman, 2006). These poems suggest themes of homosexuality but don’t actually admit it. He uses these same themes, language and form in his later poems as well. In spite of this consistency, his “open investigations of the mysteries of death and the dual nature of humankind have earned him acknowledgment as a precursor to the development of modern poetry” (A.E. Housman, 2006). His ideas about death and endings are common themes that run through poems such as “With Rue My Heart is Laden,” “To An Athlete Dying Young” and “When I Was One and Twenty.” The idea of inconsolable grief is found in all the lines of “With Rue My Heart is Laden.” The poem opens in sorrow “For golden friends I had” (2), never allowing the reader to think that he is talking about anyone alive. This concept is confirmed when he says that “The lightfoot boys are laid” (6) and “The rose-lipt girls are sleeping” (7). Though the sorrow and grief for these friends is keenly felt in these words, Housman does not allow them to sleep completely in shadows. He remembers them in full bloom as rose-lipt girls and lightfoot boys, filling the idea of them with a sense of vitality and liveliness as they were in their youth. This sense of energy and motion is carried forward in the choice of the word leaping to describe the width of the brooks. But the fleeting memory of these friends as they were in life are quickly returned to the sorrow that started the poem as it is remembered the brooks are where the boys are laid and the maidens sleep in the faded fields of summer. While Housman expresses profound grief and loss at the concept of death, he also demonstrates a respect for those who die young as they are able to retain a portion of their glory even in death. This idea that dying young is the only way to preserve the best of what one was is the subject of the poem “To An Athlete Dying Young.” In this poem, Housman demonstrates a sensitive honor for the man who dies in his prime, creating a powerful sense of regretful understanding regarding the wisdom behind dying young. He begins the poem with the same kind of progression found in “With Rue My Heart is Laden” as he takes a nostalgic look back at the happy crowd carrying the star athlete around on a chair, everyone celebrating and having a good time. This nostalgia is established by the wistful “The time you won” (1) which immediately introduces a mental fog around the edges of memory being described instead of a current action. The hero’s way is carefully developed in the lines “Man and boy stood cheering by, / And home we brought you shoulder-high” (3-4). This is counter-balanced by the very different tone found in the second stanza: “Shoulder-high we bring you home, / And set you at your threshold down” (6-7). With only this slight change in language, Housman makes it clear that this is no longer a cheering crowd, they are not celebrating and, by distinguishing his friend as “Townsman of a stiller town” (8), he makes it obvious that this is a casket being set down. Such subtle thoughtful language is carried throughout the poem, indicating Housman’s attitude toward death is a kind of resolute acceptance of its necessity in order to maintain a hero’s status. With statements like “Smart lad, to slip betimes away / From fields where glory does not stay” (9-10), Housman indicates that only by dying young can one hold onto any glory – you will never see your record beat, you will never know what it’s like to not receive the cheers anymore, you will always carry your champion cup. While the poem “When I Was One and Twenty” addresses the topic of unrequited love, it helps to indicate Housman’s attitude toward endings of any kind. In this poem, the sense of loss at the end is not as keenly felt as the emotions expressed in “To An Athlete Dying Young.” This is because a great deal of the poem is dedicated to expressing the views of the wise man regarding love. “Give crowns and pounds and guineas / But not your heart away” (3-4), he quotes the wise man, but that energetic youth is incapable of heeding the message. “But I was one and twenty, / no use to talk to me” (7-8). He had also been told that no love is ever given in vain because when it is not returned, it is paid for with “sighs a plenty / And sold for endless rue” (13-14). And now, one year later, he realizes the truth in what the man was saying. Riches beyond measure were advised to be sacrificed, eternal pain beyond endurance were the penalty of not listening to the man’s advice as he now must go through life forever denied the one-sided love he valued. The final line of the poem captures the essence of the grief and loss, “Oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true!” (16) as the mind skips back over what was offered to him instead of the other’s heart and the realization is forced home regarding what this speaker is feeling. From this position, it is apparent that while Housman may accept ending as a necessary fact of life, he does not feel that the grief experienced from these experiences are something that can be overcome. In these poems, Housman is demonstrates the depth of his feelings of grief and loss at losing a friendship in his life, whether through death or through unrequited love, but he is also able to demonstrate that life will continue and death is not necessarily completely negative. Each of these poems illustrate grief on the part of the one left behind, but glory for the one who has passed on as they are able to cling to their youth, charms and abilities. His poems illustrate that this grief is not necessarily only brought about as the result of death, but can also be brought about as a result of unrequited love, betrayal or other forms of parting. Although he acknowledges that his grief may not be a permanent condition, it is only when he looks at death from the viewpoint of the deceased that he is able to escape his grief enough to express this concept. At no point does he indicate that the pain was worth the enjoyment had in the relationship, but he still manages to suggest that the one lost was valued and brought something positive to his life. It can be assumed, then, that he imagined there would be a time when his grief would not affect him so deeply, but that he had not yet lived long enough to allow that time to come. Works Cited A.E. Housman. Poet’s Corner. New York: Gale Learning, 2009. July 12, 2009 Housman, A.E. A Shropshire Lad. London: K. Paul, Trench, Treubner, 1896. Read More