A Shropshire Lad

A.E. Housman

Jun 2011 · Naxos AudioBooks · Narrated by Samuel West

About this audiobook

In A Shropshire Lad, A.E. Housman recreates a nostalgic world of lost love, lost youth, thwarted friendships, unfaithful girls, male bonding, untimely death and the uncertain glories of being a soldier. The poems deal with the exuberance of youth Ð its aspirations and disappointments, its na•ve certainties and tragic mistakes. Though written in 1895, it struck a chord with the generation of young men who fought in World WarÊI. It was said that every ÔTommyÕ had a copy in his knapsack. It has never been out of print.

About the author

A. E. Housman was born in Fockbury, Worcestershire, England on March 26, 1859. In 1877, he attended St. John's College, Oxford and received first class honours in classical moderations. He worked as clerk in the Patent Office in London for ten years. During this time he studied Greek and Roman classics intensively, and in 1892 was appointed professor of Latin at University College, London. In 1911 he became professor of Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge, a post he held until his death. He only published two volumes of poetry during his lifetime: A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems. He died on April 30, 1936. A third volume, More Poems, was released posthumously in 1936 by his brother as was an edition of Housman's Complete Poems in 1939.