Though Housman has received little critical acclaim, he is seen by some as an undervalued ironist. Examine his work through some of his most renowned critics. His work is examined from various angles, including Housman's divided persona, figurations of time, the poetic tradition, and more.
Added by: arcadius | Karma: 2802.10 | Fiction literature | 27 February 2010
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A Shropshire Lad by Alfred Edward Housman
A Shropshire Lad (1896) is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman. The main theme of A Shropshire Lad is mortality, and so living life to its fullest, since death can strike at any time. For example, number IV, titled "Reveille", urges an unnamed "lad" to stop sleeping in the daylight, for "When the journey's over/There'll be time enough to sleep." One of Housman's most familiar poems is number XIII from A Shropshire Lad, untitled but often anthologised under a title taken from its first line.
