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. A. E. Housman More Quotes by A. E. Housman More Quotes From A. E. Housman Clay lies still, but blood's a rover; A. E. Housman time lying travel When the journey's over/There'll be time enough to sleep. A. E. Housman journey enough sleep Therefore, since the world has still A. E. Housman goodness evil world White in the moon the long road lies. A. E. Housman moon white lying We now to peace and darkness And earth and thee restore Thy creature that thou madest And wilt cast forth no more. A. E. Housman darkness earth peace If a man will comprehend the richness and variety of the universe, and inspire his mind with a due measure of wonder and awe, he must contemplate the human intellect not only on its heights of genius but in its abysses of ineptitude. A. E. Housman men inspire science I sought them far and found them, The sure, the straight, the brave, The hearts I lost my own to, The souls I could not save They braced their belts about them, They crossed in ships the sea, They sought and found six feet of ground, And there they died for me. A. E. Housman sea feet heart I could no more define poetry than a terrier can define a rat. A. E. Housman terriers rats poetry You smile upon your friend to-day, To-day his ills are over; You hearken to the lover's say, And happy is the lover. 'Tis late to hearken, late to smile, But better late than never: I shall have lived a little while Before I die for ever. A. E. Housman lovers over-you littles They say my verse is sad: no wonder; Its narrow measure spans Tears of eternity, and sorrow, Not mine. but man's. A. E. Housman tears sorrow men Terence, this is stupid stuff: You eat your victuals fast enough; There can't be much amiss, 'tis clear, To see the rate you drink your beer. But oh, good Lord, the verse you make, It gives a chap the belly-ache. The cow, the old cow, she is dead; It sleeps well the horned head: We poor lads, 'tis our turn now To hear such tunes as killed the cow. Pretty friendship 'tis to rhyme Your friends to death before their time. Moping, melancholy mad: Come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad. A. E. Housman humorous stupid sleep Shoulder the sky, my lad, and drink your ale. A. E. Housman ale beer sky I am not a pessimist but a pejorist (as George Eliot said she was not an optimist but a meliorist); and that philosophy is founded on my observation of the world, not on anything so trivial and irrelevant as personal history. A. E. Housman personal-history historical philosophy Good religious poetry... is likely to be most justly appreciated and most discriminately relished by the undevout. A. E. Housman poetry-is appreciated religious White in the moon the long road lies, The moon stands blank above; White in the moon the long road lies That leads me from my love. Still hangs the hedge without a gust, Still, still the shadows stay: My feet upon the moonlit dust Pursue the ceaseless way. The world is round, so travellers tell, And straight through reach the track, Trudge on, trudge on, 'twill all be well, The way will guide one back. But ere the circle homeward hies Far, far must it remove: White in the moon the long road lies That leads me from my love. A. E. Housman moon feet lying Existence is not itself a good thing, that we should spend a lifetime securing its necessaries: a life spent, however victoriously, in securing the necessaries of life is no more than an elaborate furnishing and decoration of apartments for the reception of a guest who is never to come. Our business here is not to live, but to live happily. A. E. Housman guests lifetime life-is The average man, if he meddles with criticism at all, is a conservative critic. A. E. Housman criticism average men There, by the starlit fences The wanderer halts and hears My soul that lingers sighing About the glimmering weirs. A. E. Housman halt fence soul Mithridates, he died old. Housman's passage is based on the belief of the ancients that Mithridates the Great [c. 135-63 B.C.] had so saturated his body with poisons that none could injure him. When captured by the Romans he tried in vain to poison himself, then ordered a Gallic mercenary to kill him. A. E. Housman body poison belief 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. A. E. Housman god letting-go men
