"Romantic poetry as Housman received it was in need of correction. He corrected it. The romantic conflict of man against society, of man against immutable laws is still there, but presented by a man who had the classic craftsman's respect both for himself and his craft. The form is concise and accurate; but for all their lightness, his poems never lose the sense of earth, for all their grace, they are tough enough to sustain a considerable irony. The limits within which Housman was able to feel at all were strict, but within them he felt intensely, and both strictness and intensity are in his verse."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Atheists from EnglandEssayists from EnglandPoets from EnglandUniversity of Cambridge facultyCritics from the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
John Peale Bishop, 'The Poetry of A. E. Housman', Poetry, Vol. 56, No. 3 (June 1940), p. 145
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A._E._Housman
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
A. E. Housman
Alfred Edward Housman (26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936), usually known as A.E. Housman, was an English poet and classical scholar, now best known for his cycle of poems '.
93 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by A. E. Housman →
Related Quotes
"But from my grave across my brow Plays no wind of healing now, And fire and ice within me fight Beneath the suffocati…"
"From far, from eve and morning And yon twelve-winded sky, The stuff of life to knit me Blew hither; here am I."
"Oh, when I was in love with you Then I was clean and brave, And miles around the wonder grew How well did I behave. A…"
"To-day, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high, we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of …"
"They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man, The lads that will die in their glory and never be old."
"There, like the wind through woods in riot, Through him the gale of life blew high; The tree of man was never quiet: …"
"The bells they sound on Bredon And still the steeples hum. "Come all to church, good people," — Oh, noisy bells, be d…"
"His folly has not fellow Beneath the blue of day That gives to man or woman His heart and soul away."
"And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears."
"Oh tarnish late on Wenlock Edge, Gold that I never see; Lie long, high snowdrifts in the hedge That will not shower o…"