Housman, A E

Housman, A(lfred) E(dward)

A.E. Housman, detail of a drawing by William Rothenstein, 1906; in the National Portrait Gallery, …

(credit: Courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery, London)

(born March 26, 1859, Fockbury, Worcestershire, Eng.—died April 30, 1936, Cambridge) English scholar and poet. While working as a Patent Office clerk, he studied Latin texts and wrote journal articles that led to his appointment as a professor at University College, London, and later at Cambridge. His major scholarly effort was an annotated edition (1903–30) of Marcus Manilius (fl.1st century AD). His first poetry volume, A Shropshire Lad (1896)—with its much-anthologized “When I was One-and Twenty”—was based on Classical and traditional models; its lyrics express a Romantic pessimism in a spare, simple style. It gradually grew popular, and his second volume, Last Poems (1922), was extremely successful. Other works include the lecture The Name and Nature of Poetry (1933) and the posthumous collection More Poems (1936). His brother is the novelist and playwright Laurence Housman (1865–1959).