All Poems
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Fragment of a Greek Tragedy
© Alfred Edward Housman
CHORUS: O suitably-attired-in-leather-boots
Head of a traveller, wherefore seeking whom
Whence by what way how purposed art thou come
To this well-nightingaled vicinity?
Oh Who Is That Young Sinner
© Alfred Edward Housman
Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrists?
And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists?
And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air?
Oh they're taking him to prison for the color of his hair.
Here Dead We Lie
© Alfred Edward Housman
Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
Wake Not for the World-Heard Thunder
© Alfred Edward Housman
Wake not for the world-heard thunder,
Nor the chimes that earthquakes toll;
Stars may plot in heaven with planet,
Lightning rive the rock of granite,
The Grizzly Bear
© Alfred Edward Housman
The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild
It has devoured the little child.
The little child is unaware
It has been eaten by the bear.
On the Idle Hill of Summer
© Alfred Edward Housman
On the idle hill of summer,
Sleepy with the flow of streams,
Far I hear the steady drummer
Drumming like a noise in dreams.
Be Still, My Soul, Be Still
© Alfred Edward Housman
Be still, my soul, be still; the arms you bear are brittle,
Earth and high heaven are fixt of old and founded strong.
Think rather,-- call to thought, if now you grieve a little,
The days when we had rest, O soul, for they were long.
Into My Heart an Air that Kills
© Alfred Edward Housman
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
Epitaph On An Army of Mercenaries
© Alfred Edward Housman
These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.
The Laws of God, The Laws of Man
© Alfred Edward Housman
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;
The Day of Battle
© Alfred Edward Housman
"Far I hear the bugle blow
To call me where I would not go,
And the guns begin the song,
'Soldier, fly or stay for long.'
With Rue My Heart Is Laden
© Alfred Edward Housman
With rue my heart is laden
For golden friends I had,
For many a rose-lipt maiden
And many a lightfoot lad.
Twice a Week the Winter Thorough
© Alfred Edward Housman
Twice a week the winter thorough
Here stood I to keep the goal:
Football then was fighting sorrow
For the young man's soul.
Stars
© Alfred Edward Housman
Stars, I have seen them fall,
But when they drop and die
No star is lost at all
From all the star-sown sky.
Eight O'Clock
© Alfred Edward Housman
He stood, and heard the steeple
Sprinkle the quarters on the morning town.
One, two, three, four, to market-place and people
It tossed them down.
Is My Team Ploughing
© Alfred Edward Housman
"Is my team ploughing,
That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
When I was man alive?"
When I Was One-and-Twenty
© Alfred Edward Housman
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
"Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Terence, This is Stupid Stuff
© Alfred Edward Housman
TERENCE, this is stupid stuff:
You eat your victuals fast enough;
There cant be much amiss, tis clear,
To see the rate you drink your beer.
A Shropshire Lad XIX: The time you won your town the race
© Alfred Edward Housman
The time you won your town the raceWe chaired you through the market-place;Man and boy stood cheering by,And home we brought you shoulder-high.
Ginza Samba
© Robert Pinsky
A monosyllabic European called Sax
Invents a horn, walla whirledy wah, a kind of twisted
Brazen clarinet, but with its column of vibrating
Air shaped not in a cylinder but in a cone
