Last Poems by A. E. Housman
1922
A. E. Housman's Last Poems collects verse written across decades, published after his death in 1936. These are terse, aching poems about boys who die, love that cannot be spoken, and the green English countryside made unbearably sad by time. Housman wrote in apparent simplicity, using the rhythms of folk songs and balladry, but each line carries the weight of classical learning and private anguish. The poems reach back to Greek tragedy and forward to a world about to lose a generation to the Great War. They address soldiers, sweethearts, and Housman's own restless doubt about God and eternity. Yet the collection is not merely gloomy: there is bravado here, and dark humor, and a fierce attachment to the present moment precisely because it will not last. For readers who have loved the A Shropshire Lad poems, this volume offers more of that particular Housman magic: short, sharp, and unforgettable.
