A.E. Housman

Quotes

• “The stars have not dealt me the worst they could do:My pleasures are plenty, my troubles are two.But oh, my two troubles...”
• “When the lad for longing sighs,Mute and dull of cheer and pale,If at death's own door he lies,Maiden, you can heal his a...”
• “Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries These, in the day when heaven was falling, The hour when earth's foundations fled,Foll...”
• “If it chance your eye offends you,Pluck it out lad, and be sound:'Twill hurt, but here are salves to friend you,And many...”
• “It nods and curtseys and recoversWhen the wind blows above,The nettle on the graves of loversThat hanged themselves for ...”
• “The half-moon westers low, my love,And the wind brings up the rain;And wide apart lie we, my love,And seas between the t...”
• “Wanderers eastward, wanderers west, Know you why you cannot rest?'Tis that every mother's sonTravails with a skeleton.Li...”
• “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 la...”
• “They say my verse is sad: no wonder.Its narrow measure spansRue for eternity, and sorrowNot mine, but man'sThis is for a...”
• “Therefore, since the world has stillMuch good, but much less good than ill,And while the sun and moon endureLuck's a cha...”
• “Stars, I have seen them fall,But when they drop and dieNo star is lost at allFrom all the star-sown sky.The toil of all ...”
• “Great literature should do some good to the reader: must quicken his perception though dull, and sharpen his discriminat...”
• “To-day I shall be strong,No more shall yield to wrong,Shall squander life no more;Days lost, I know not how,I shall retr...”
• “To stand up straight and tread the turning mill,To lie flat and know nothing and be still,Are the two trades of man; and...”
• “Iniquity it is; but pass the can. My lad, no pair of kings our mothers bore;Our only portion is the estate of man: We wa...”
• “The thoughts of othersWere light and fleeting,Of lovers' meetingOr luck or fame.Mine were of trouble,And mine were stead...”
• “Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out. Perfect understanding will some...”
• “I seeIn many an eye that measures meThe mortal sickness of a mindToo unhappy to be kind.Undone with misery, all they can...”
• “The sum of things to be known is inexhaustible, and however long we read, we shall never come to the end of our story-bo...”
• “Oh on my breast in days hereafterLight the earth should lie,Such weight to bear is now the air,So heavy hangs the sky.(A...”
• “Terence, this is stupid stuff:You eat your victuals fast enough;There can't be much amiss, 'tis clear,To see the rate yo...”
• “Lie you easy, dream you light,And sleep you fast for aye;And luckier may you find the nightThan ever you found the day.”
• “June suns, you cannot store themTo warm the winter's cold,The lad that hopes for heavenShall fill his mouth with mould.”
• “The sum of things to be known is inexhaustible, and however long we read, we shall never come to the end of our story-”
• “Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose,But young men think it is, and we were young.”
• “Ale, man, Ale's the stuff to drink,for fellows whom it hurts to think.”
• “Tis the old wind in the old anger,But then it threshed another wood.”
• “Who made the world I cannot tell;'Tis made, and here I am in hell.”