Alfred Edward Housman, a classical scholar and poet, was born in Fockbury in the country of Worcestershire, England on March 26, 1859. His poems are variations on the themes of the regrets and frustrations of young men, especially soldiers. (Encyclopedia C-D Rom). Most of Housman's poems were written in the 1890's when he was under great psychological stress, which made the tone of his poems characteristically mournful and the mood dispirited (Magill 1411). "In the world of Housman's poetry, youth fades to dust, lovers are unfaithful, and death is the tranquil end of everything (Magill 1412)."

Throughout his life, Housman faced many hardships. He was frail, often sickly, very devoted to his mother, and alienated from his father. (Magill 922) The loss of his mother at age 12 shattered his childhood and left him with tremendous feelings of loneliness, from which he never fully recovered. His father began to drink as a result of his mother's death and began a long slip in

A Shropshire Lad is limited in range and idea. Housman's verse is condensed to the uttermost, stripped of every superfluous ornament, pared and precise. Not the least of his triumph is the mingling of pungent humor and poignance.(Untermeyer 91)

He often uses symbolism to express death, therefore the reader has to look into the true meaning of the poem to see it's connection with death. Another frequent theme in Housman's poetry is the attitude that the universe is cruel and hostile, created by a god who has abandoned it. R. Kowalczyk summed up this common theme when he stated: "Housman's poetic characters fail to find divine love in the universe. They confront the enormity of space and realize that they are victims of Natures's blind forces." Housman believed that God created our universe and left us in this unkind world to fend for ourselves.

In 1922, twenty-six years after A Shropshire Lad was published, appeared his Last Poems. The title is significant, Housman saying, "I publish these poems, few though they are, because it is not likely that I shall be impelled to write much more. I can not longer expect to be revisited by the continuous excitement under which in the early months of 1895 I wrote the greater part of my other book, nor indeed could I will sustain it if it came."

In the first stanza Housman is equating the age of twenty-one to inexperience and innocence. The advice of the "Wise man" on love to give "crowns and pounds and guineas" is overlooked by the man of one-and-twenty. The wise man is suggesting that it is harmless to give a woman jewels and money, but it is foolish to give one's heart away or not to "keep your fancy free." The transition from innocence to experience occurs in the second stanza. The speaker is given advice from the wise man a second time, but he still does not listen, which results in a broken heart. B.J. Leggett states: The heart differs from pearls and crowns precisely because it cannot be physically given away. It is always sold because the giver receives something in return, and what he receives consists of the sorrows of love which inevitably entails. The fancy can be free only be keeping it (66). The speaker of the poem relates his age, "two-and-twenty", with experience and knowledge. When the speaker stated "tis true, tis true" he came to the realization that the wise man was giving useful advice and that he should not have given his heart away after all.

The Shropshire Lad was Housman's most famous collection of poetry. The collection of poems that went into the Shropshire Lad were first written because Housman felt compelled to express his emotions at this time. Many of his poems relate directly or indirectly to his desire for Moses Jackson. Other recurring themes are praise and celebration of rural life and the constancy of death. (Magill 925) Other poems were written at moments of fierce anger and revolt about certain social injustices. (Hawkins 144) One of his poems that display his harsh and morose feelings towards love and life is "When I Was One-and-Twenty."

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Approximate Word count = 2745
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)