A. E. Housman Quotes

A. E. Housman was a renowned poet whose works continue to captivate readers with their lyrical beauty and emotional depth. His poems often explored themes of love, loss, and the fleeting nature of life, resonating with audiences and leaving a lasting impression. Housman's poetic legacy has solidified his place among the great English poets of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, the happy highways where I went and cannot come again.

Shoulder the sky, my lad, and drink your ale.

The troubles of our proud and angry dust are from eternity, and shall not fail. Bear them we can, and if we can we must. Shoulder the sky, my lad, and drink your ale.

Great literature should do some good to the reader: must quicken his perception though dull, and sharpen his discrimination though blunt, and mellow the rawness of his personal opinions.

In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a diabolical cunning.

Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; but young men think it is, and we were young.

I find Cambridge an asylum, in every sense of the ... -A. E. Housman

I find Cambridge an asylum, in every sense of the word.

Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink for fellows who... -A. E. Housman

Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink for fellows whom it hurts to think.

And malt does more than Milton can to justify God'... -A. E. Housman

And malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.

Discovering the context

This quote refers to the drink malt liquor, suggesting that it can offer more satisfaction or solace than philosophical or literary works like those of John Milton, who sought to rationalize or explain God's actions to humanity.

Malt does more than Milton can to justify God's wa... -A. E. Housman

Malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.

The average man, if he meddles with criticism at a... -A. E. Housman

The average man, if he meddles with criticism at all, is a conservative critic.

The house of delusions is cheap to build but draft... -A. E. Housman

The house of delusions is cheap to build but drafty to live in.

Experience has taught me, when I am shaving of a morning, to keep watch over my thoughts, because, if a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the razor ceases to act.

I could no more define poetry than a terrier can d... -A. E. Housman

I could no more define poetry than a terrier can define a rat.

Discovering the context

This quote humorously expresses the difficulty of providing a precise definition of poetry. It suggests that just as a terrier, a breed of dog known for chasing rats, cannot intellectually define a rat, the speaker finds it challenging to capture the essence of poetry in a concise definition.

The laws of God, the laws of man he may keep that will and can; not I: let God and man decree laws for themselves and not for me.

Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out... Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure.

Who made the world I cannot tell; 'Tis made, and here am I in hell. My hand, though now my knuckles bleed, I never soiled with such a deed.

If a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin... -A. E. Housman

If a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the razor ceases to act.

Nature, not content with denying him the ability to think, has endowed him with the ability to write.

All knowledge is precious whether or not it serves... -A. E. Housman

All knowledge is precious whether or not it serves the slightest human use.

A. E. Housman Quotes

Popular Topic