Alfred Edward Housman Who knew sadness and despair could bring someone fame, fortune, and prosperity? Alfred Edward Housman had all of these things. His life started out depressing and full of failures. Little did he know that his misfortunes would cause him to be one of the most esteemed poets of his time. In addition to his misfortunes, his diligence in his studies helped him further his talents. Life’s situation such as the loss of his mother, disappointment from his father, and rejection from his best friend were not able to diminish Housman’s ambitions. The beginning of Housman’s life began on March 26, 1859. He was born near Broomsgrove in Worcestershire. He was born to Edward and Sarah Jane Housman. He was the eldest of seven children. Housman was unhappy growing up. He and his father did not get along well. His father wanted him to be manlier; it was not in Housman’s nature to be manly. He preferred his mother over his father. His series of personal catastrophes began when his mother, Sarah Jane Housman, died. He was twelve years old when his mother died of cancer (Stanford 19:215). Housman was an outstanding student in school. He attended Broomsgrove School in Worecestershire. His diligence in his studies distinguished him from the rest. While he was at Broomsgrove School, he was the head boy of his class. He was awarded numerous awards. Bowman 2 These awards include scholarships to St. John’s College and Oxford University (Stanford 19:215). While at St. John’s he received first class honors in classical moderations. In Housman’s spare time, he liked to study Greek and Roman Catholic. Like many people in the world, Housman fell in love. Back when Housman was a St. John’s, he had a best friend. His best friend was Mo... ... middle of paper ... ...that commits suicide over love. The first stanza talks about a plant (nettle) moving in the wind. “It nods and curtseys and recovers.” It is on someone’s grave. It is on the grave of someone who hung themselves. They hung themselves for love. The second stanza, again, talks about the nettle moving in the wind. It also describes the man being still in his casket. It tells us that he hung himself over love. There is another fantastic poem of Housman’s that is interesting. This poem is from Last Poems. This poem also does not have a title; it is XXVII. This poem is about the wind and the dew in the morning. The first stanza talks about the wind. It talks about how the wind moves through the grass. He says the wind is like a sigh. The second stanza talks about the dew on the leaves. He says the dew in the morning is like diamond tears. “The diamond tears…on the lea.”
and that we should help those less fortunate than ourselves. In this I essay I have shown how successful the poet was in making me share this view by using his thoughtful and intense language, word-choice and imagery techniques.
In 1798, his grandfather died, which gave him his title and his estate. He later attended Trinity College at Cambridge University and earned his master’s degree in July of 1808 (“Lord”). Aside from his schooling he was an excellent marksman, horseman, and swimmer (Gurney 72). Many thought he was “mad- bad- and dangerous to know” (Napierkowski 38). His personality was very out of the realm of normal for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in which he lived. He isolated himself from others’ opinions about his cruel, sexual eccentric...
degrees of Bachelor of Science in 1936 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1937. Since that time
The first stanza begins with the metaphor “she wanted to be a blade / of grass amid the fields” (1-2) which compares the girl’s desire to grow as a person to the growth of grass but also introduces her longing for individuality. It becomes apparent that the boy in her life is not supportive and “he wouldn’t agree to be the dandelion” (3-4) or provide a stable foundation for their relationship like a dandelion lacking coherence with grass. The second stanza opens with t...
College, where he got expelled once before he graduated in 1809. After he graduated Dickinson
In Bromley, Herbert George Wells was born. Wells started Morley’s school in Bromley when he was seven, when he was 14 he became apprenticed to a draper. In 1883, Wells rebelled against their fate. Herbert arrived at up park when he was 14. Some events that propelled Wells in a new direction are in his autobiography called “starts in life”. When Herbert George Wells was young his mother taught him how to read, Mostly using big sheet capital letters. Wells Aunt Mary and sister ran a boardinghouse and Wells went to live with them. Wells stumbled upon a lot of knowledge. Wells childhood was very low class. Wells education began when he attended the commercial academy for young gentlemen. Wells moved to Wookey, Somerset in 1880 to help a relative when he was 14 (Abrams 13+; Hall 310+; “Herbert George Wells-Biography”; Kunitz 1492; O’neal 1630; “Wells, H. G.” 122).
pleasant than being confined in a prison." While attending Hodder House, he studied chemistry, poetry, geometry,
In 1845, young Arthur entered Union College in Schenectady as a sophomore. There he studied classical languages, arts, and the sciences. He supplemented his tuition by teaching during winter vacations at various schools in the area. During the school year, Arthur spent a lot of time in campus extracurricular activities. He enjoyed participating in student political demonstrations on issues ranging from abolitionism to school elections, and playing school pranks. Hence, it is understandable that Arthur wasn't an outstanding student. Nevertheless, he graduated in the top third of his class in 1848.
Throughout his villanelle, “Saturday at the Border,” Hayden Carruth continuously mentions the “death-knell” (Carruth 3) to reveal his aged narrator’s anticipation of his upcoming death. The poem written in conversation with Carruth’s villanelle, “Monday at the River,” assures the narrator that despite his age, he still possesses the expertise to write a well structured poem. Additionally, the poem offers Carruth’s narrator a different attitude with which to approach his writing, as well as his death, to alleviate his feelings of distress and encourage him to write with confidence.
The first stanza describes the depth of despair that the speaker is feeling, without further explanation on its causes. The short length of the lines add a sense of incompleteness and hesitance the speaker feels towards his/ her emotions. This is successful in sparking the interest of the readers, as it makes the readers wonder about the events that lead to these emotions. The second and third stanza describe the agony the speaker is in, and the long lines work to add a sense of longing and the outpouring emotion the speaker is struggling with. The last stanza, again structured with short lines, finally reveals the speaker 's innermost desire to "make love" to the person the speaker is in love
John Keats’s illness caused him to write about his unfulfillment as a writer. In an analysis of Keats’s works, Cody Brotter states that Keats’s poems are “conscious of itself as the poem[s] of a poet.” The poems are written in the context of Keats tragically short and painful life. In his ...
The “fat and …bone” are compared to symbolize the difference between whites and blacks. The second stanza compares black and whites to rivers and the sea; one is fresh and the other salty, but both are bodies of water. The third stanza uses a metaphor to compare living out lives alone while pitching a tent in solitude, all alone in our own little world. It also uses the “sun and shadow” to symbolize whites and blacks. In stanza four grief and joy are contrasted with the use of personification. While joy only favors a few, grief is a common factor shared by all people, making it a common ground one in which anyone can come together. The fifth stanza or the last uses similes to give the message that although it is sometimes painful and unpleasant to share other’s grief it is something that must be done in order for everyone to live in harmony. It also relates grief to a weapon, calling it a “blade shining and unsheathed that must strike me down”. It also compares sorrow to a crown of “bitter aloes wreathed”. The overall poem contains Biblical allusions. It sends the message that everyone should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Cullen is calling all Americans to do as Jesus did and be a man of the people
In the second stanza, Sexton drives from the funeral to the Cape to “cultivate” herself or deal with her grief. She describes the images she sees on the cape such as the sun shining from the sky and uses a simile to describe the sea that “swings in like an iron gate”. The scenery, unlike Sexton’s emotions, are very lively and happy and the usage of this imagery makes the reader understand that the world was still turning even through the speaker’s life had just stopped due to her loss (Johnson 3). The end of the second stanza concludes with “in another country people die”, which brings back the poem’s theme of death and returns the poem to a more dismal tone showing that she cannot escape death or her grief. In the third stanza, Sexton addresses a loved one who is with her. Despite the wind falling like stones from “white hearted water” or the grief hitting her, her loved one touches her and she realizes that unlike the dead, she is not
... be casting stones, or holding a conversation. The speaker of the poem does not move on from this emotional torment, yet I do feel as if in his quest for closure he does resolve some of the tumultuous feelings he does have in regard to losing his love.
Line two and three are “more than spring’s promised blessing; on new beginnings hanging”. Using the word hanging demonstrates how the promises of spring, and more importantly love, are very fragile gifts that can easily fall off the tree, that is their life, and disappear from a person forever. If lovers want their love to last they should not shake the tree, or test their love, but simply let it be. Hanging also creates a very ugly image with almost anyone, whether they think of people being hanged or meat hanging in a freezer like in Rocky, very few people can get a pos...