Collected
Poems of A. E. Housman by A. E. Housman
Housman is a wonderful, lyrical poet. I bought
this collection after having seen The Invention of Love on
the London stage.
Most beautiful of all, to my mind, is the poem
entitled "To an Athlete Dying Young". This was the
eulogy read by Isak Dinesen at Denys Finch-Hatton's funeral in the
movie "Out of Africa". The poem, which was originally
included in "A Shropshire Lad" (1896) begins:
"The time you won your town the race, We
chaired you through the market place. Man and boy stood cheering
by and home we brought you shoulder high. Today the road all
runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home. And set you at your
threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town. Smart lad! to slip
betimes away from fields where glory does not stay And early
though the laurel grows It withers quicker than the rose... And
round that early laurelled head Will flock to gaze the
strengthless dead, And find, unwithered on its curls, A garland.
Briefer than a girl's."
A very moving and sad poem. Many of Housman's
other poems are of a similar, outstanding quality. He was not a
prolific poet, but he was certainly a great one. Great pleasure
will be found in this collection. -- Anonymous Review
(Amazon.com)
The
Name and Nature of Poetry : And Other Selected Prose by
John Carter (Editor), Alfred E. Housman
Lovers of Housman's poetry
have generally been aware, from the "Introductory
Lecture" (1892) to "The Name and Nature of Poetry"
(1933), that he was a master of English prose. For better or
worse, these are the opening gun and the last post of modernism.
The
Poems of A. E. Housman (Oxford English Texts)
by A. E. Housman, Archie Burnett
(Editor)
This is the first complete edition of A.E.
Housman's poetry, unprecedented in the context to which it reveals
the shaping processes of his poetic thought. To the poetry of The
Collective Poems (1939) it adds a substantial body of light verses
the juvenilia, some of it printed or collected for the first time.
It also revises the texts--particularly the posthumously published
poems and notebook fragments--in light of a comprehensive survey
of manuscript and printed sources, recording all textual variants.
As well as charting his compositional practices, the editor
illuminates the many sources, from Biblical and Classical to
contemporary, which influenced Housman--consciously or
unconsciously--in his choice of ideas, images, and phraseology.
Drawing on the poet's two commonplace books, works he is known to
have read, and volumes from his library, the editor's commentary
traces the remarkable range of his echoes and allusions, which
have never before been explored in such detail. The introduction
and commentary also cover dating and other textual matters,
information on persons, places, and historical context, and
Housman's linguistic usage.
