XXV, By Thomas Housman

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He wrote:
When Earths foundations Flee,
Nor sky nor land nor sea
At all is found,
Content you, let them burn:
It is not your concern;
Sleep on, sleep sound. (7-12)
He constantly questioned his faith. In the poem “XXXV,” Housman related that the ultimate punishment was equal for those who disobeyed God, as well as those who obeyed. The question begs, why should anyone obey? This is one of the reasons that Housman abandoned religion. In many of his poems he denies that there ever existed an everlasting soul. In the poem, “The Immortal Part,” Housman suggests that when human beings die, their soul and flesh die and only the bones will stay.
Housman attended Oxford University where he began to flourish as a writer. It was there that he met Moses Jackson, his roommate. Moses was the man who Housman was rumored to have loved. Housman seemed to be predisposed to homosexuality because his mother was a powerful influence in …show more content…

He was still disillusioned by the injustices in life which separated him from God, but he was much more nostalgic for the innocence of his childhood. Housman insisted his poetry was not based on his own pain, but mankind. That was completely the opposite of how he wrote. He projected his own pain into the poetry he wrote. It was as if all of his troubles were too insufferable for him to bear, so he projected them into his work and gave them voice. As time wore on, Housman became more cynical and pessimistic about God and all of the religion he was reared to believe in. Pessimism is the root of atheism. Not believing in God results from a feeling of rejection; losing God results in a loss of ego. Housman was both an atheist and a pessimist. By not believing in God, a supreme being, everything else holds no value. Goodness is blurred by the veil of atheism. Pessimism is a hallmark of atheism, even for those who keep their

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