Alfred Edward Housman:

Lovelies of trees When I was one-and-twenty

Nguyn Phng Vn Kiu Thi Phm nh Ngc Lng Hong L Phng Nguyn Th Minh Phng

Group 2

Nguyn Ngc Nha Trang L Nguyn Thanh Uyn Nguyn L Tng Vn Nguyn Th Thy Vy

Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936)

Two volumes of poetry

A Shropshire Led (1896) and Last poems (1922)

Poems themes
Grief pastoral beauty unrequited love fleeting youth

death
patriotism of the common soldier

Introduction
Period:
taken from The Shropshire Lad : Victorian Modern period. strongly reminiscent of the Romantic period: natural imagery and optimism.

Type:

Lyric poem

=> expressing an emotion or idea produced through observation of nature.

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide.

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough,
* early spring youth and beginnings

Metaphor:

* the cherry tree beauty of nature and spring most beautiful of all trees symbol of youth and beauty

And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. * Woodland ride:
a countryside path lined with blossoming cherry trees

And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Personification: The cherry tree is wearing white
to join the celebration of holy Easter festival White

peace and purity (metaphor) => Standing about the woodland ride, the poet looks at
them Wearing white in purity of Eastertide

Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more.

Now, of my threescore years and ten

Score = twenty

threescore = sixty
Threescore years and ten The poets desire to live up to 70 years

Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score It only leaves me fifty more Twenty will not come again,
The first 20 years of his life has gone and can never be taken back

Take from seventy springs a score,

20 years have passed already

Synecdoche

Spring => a year

The most beautiful season of all the four. The beginning season of a year

Assonance
ten & again (line 5 & 6) / e / score & more (line 7 & 8) //
a sense of continuity and fluidity to the verse. more flexibility and adds music to the poem. Ten & Again: twenty years have gone Score & More: regret of 20 years

And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow

Synecdoche
Things in bloom: beautiful things in life Fifty springs: fifty years Woodlands: the whole world

Metaphor
snow
Literal
the real snow => implications of winter and death

Figurative
the cherry blossoms => appreciate the beauty of the cherry

Paraphrase
The beautiful cherry tree stands out along the woodland path when it is blooming white in springtime. Im twenty years old and can expect to live to be seventy. Since I only have about fifty years left in my life, I will look at natures beauty in all seasons.

 The poet expresses the view that we should seize every opportunity to experience life in all its beauty. Houseman tried to underline the brevity of life against the vastness of earth and the limitless beauty that abounds in it. The poem's briefness, short lines, and simplicity remind us that life is short; they urge us to speed.

Theme and meaning

"Live life to the fullest, for it may be too late to change anything when it is over"

-A.F.Housman-

Summary
When he was twenty one, he got an advice from a wiser person - dont bank too much on love, but he promptly ignored it.

When he was twenty two, the advice turned out to be helpful, and he admitted: Tis true.

When I was one and twenty I heard a wise man say

Why one-and-twenty but not twenty-one?

Contributes to the lyrical style of the poem as well as the assonance
Emphasizes the brash youth.

The effect of the Wise man

emphasize the youths passionate love,

which the value of it is far beyond

any property and jewelry

Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies But keep your fancy free.

What crowns, pound, guineas, pearls and rubies stand for? The idea of money is an interesting way to explain
the trials of love, using money-language.

A young man must guard against having his life

taken over by his material possessions and

others opinions,
but his mental and emotional life.

When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, The heart out of the bosom Was never given in vain;

Tis paid with sighs a plenty

And sold for endless rue.

Why use paid?

The wise man is commenting on the nature of love. No love is without its trials, and nothing is harder to give away than ones heart.

The young man didn't heed the wise man's

advice and fell in love he had to pay for it with

continuous misery and deeply emotional hurt.

And I am two-and-twenty, And oh, tis true, tis true

The effect of the last line

Feeling regretful Emphasizing the authors realization about valuable lessons of love and life when he was older,

gained maturity and experience.

Theme
The love among youth is far more valuable than
jewels and riches thus it should not be given too

easily. Young people are stubborn and unwilling to listen to others.

Advice is only really accepted and learned through personal experience.

The rhythm of the poem

Each of even-numbered lines contains six syllables.

I heard a wise man say (line 2) But not your heart away (line 4)

When I was one-and-twenty (line 1) Give crowns and pounds and guineas(line 3)

Each of the odd-numbered lines contains seven syllables.

Giving the poem a sense of melody

The rhythm of the poem

All of the even numbered lines of this poem contain three segment. All of the odd-numbered lines contain one extra unaccented syllable in the final segment.

Creating what is called feminine ending