Alfred Edward Housman was an English classical scholar and poet. Despite a rough start in university, he later became a highly regarded classicist. He held prestigious positions at University College London and the University of Cambridge. Housman is celebrated as one of the greatest scholars of all time, known for his authoritative editions of Roman poets like Juvenal, Manilius, and Lucan.

In 1896, A. E. Housman made his mark as a poet with “A Shropshire Lad,” a collection of poems where he portrayed himself as a simple and melancholic youth. Although it had a slow start, this work resonated with young readers, as its themes of early death struck a chord, especially during times of war. In 1922, his “Last Poems” further solidified his reputation, and many songs were composed based on these collections. After his passing, his brother, Laurence, published additional poems from Housman’s notebooks. It was during this period that questions about Housman’s sexual orientation began to arise, even though he had not publicly addressed the matter himself.

Born into a family of seven children, A. E. Housman’s birthplace was Valley House, located in Fockbury, a small hamlet near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. He was born to Sarah Jane (formerly Williams) and Edward Housman, whose family hailed from Lancaster. On April 24, 1859, he was baptized at Christ Church in Catshill. Tragically, Housman’s mother passed away on his twelfth birthday. Subsequently, his father, who worked as a rural solicitor, remarried his older cousin, Lucy, in 1873. Notably, two of Housman’s siblings also made their mark as writers: his sister Clemence Housman and brother Laurence Housman.

Housman attended King Edward’s School and Bromsgrove School, where he excelled in academics and poetry. In 1877, he won a scholarship to St John’s College, Oxford, to study classics. Despite initially doing well, he failed his Finals due to neglecting other subjects and had to retake the exam. Some attribute his poor performance to unrequited love, but other factors like indifference to philosophy, overconfidence, and personal distractions likely played a role.After Oxford, Jackson secured a job in the Patent Office in London and helped Housman get a job there too. They shared an apartment with Jackson’s brother Adalbert until 1885. Housman moved out, possibly because Jackson couldn’t reciprocate his love. In 1887, Jackson went to India, further distancing himself from Housman. When Jackson briefly returned to England in 1889 to marry, Housman wasn’t invited to the wedding and only learned about it after they had left the country. Adalbert Jackson passed away in 1892, and Housman later commemorated him in a poem titled “XLII – A.J.J.” in More Poems (1936).

After his Oxford setback, Housman continued his independent classical studies and authored scholarly articles on various topics, including Horace, Propertius, Ovid, Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. He also completed an edition of Propertius, though it was rejected by Oxford University Press and Macmillan in 1885 and later destroyed. In 1892, Housman’s reputation led him to accept the professorship of Latin at University College London (UCL). During his tenure, a rare Coverdale Bible from 1535 was discovered in the UCL library. Housman, who had become an atheist while at Oxford, suggested selling it to purchase more practical books.

Everything I do is me. I don’t like taking ideas from people unless they’re the G.O.A.T.

A Boogie wit da Hoodie

Housman initially covered both Latin and Greek in his early work and teaching duties but eventually focused primarily on Latin poetry. When asked why he stopped writing about Greek verse, he explained, “I found that I could not attain to excellence in both.” In 1911, he assumed the Kennedy Professorship of Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge, and remained there for the remainder of his life.Between 1903 and 1930, Housman published a critical edition of Manilius’s Astronomicon in five volumes. He also edited Juvenal in 1905 and Lucan in 1926. His scholarly contributions were highly regarded, with G. P. Goold, a Classics Professor, stating that “the legacy of Housman’s scholarship is a thing of permanent value.” This value lay not only in correcting Latin texts but also in providing a shining example of a brilliant mind at work. Housman is often considered the last great textual critic. However, as a professor, he was seen as “famously dry” by some, and his influence led to a scholarly style in literature and poetry studies that was philological and devoid of emotion, according to Harry Eyres.

Housman was known for his sharp criticism of scholars he believed were producing subpar work. In his 1921 paper titled “The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism,” he famously compared a textual critic’s work to a dog hunting for fleas, highlighting the meticulous nature of the task. He openly criticized many of his contemporaries, labeling them as stupid, lazy, or vain, and emphasizing that knowledge and method were essential, but having an intelligent mind was paramount. He often quipped that scholars needed brains in their heads, not pudding, and a head, not a pumpkin, on their shoulders.
Housman’s critiques were known for their harshness, as noted by his younger colleague A. S. F. Gow, who described them as “savage in the extreme.” Additionally, Gow mentioned that Housman could be intimidating to students, with some female students even ending up in tears. Housman’s apparent difficulty in remembering the names of female students led him to quip that distinguishing between Miss Jones and Miss Robinson might have caused him to forget something as basic as the distinction between the second and fourth declension in Latin grammar. Notably, Enoch Powell, a prominent figure in his own right, was among Housman’s students at Cambridge, and Housman even complimented one of Powell’s Classical emendations at a later time.

In his personal life, Housman enjoyed country walks, fine dining, air travel, and frequent trips to France, where he indulged in reading books that were banned in Britain as pornographic. However, despite his interests, he left an impression on some, like A. C. Benson, as if he were descended from a long line of maiden aunts due to his reserved nature. Housman had mixed feelings about his own poetry and considered it secondary to his scholarly work. He didn’t publicly discuss his poems until 1933 when he gave a lecture titled “The Name and Nature of Poetry,” in which he argued that poetry should primarily appeal to emotions rather than intellect.Housman passed away at the age of 77 in Cambridge. His ashes rest in peace just outside St. Laurence’s Church in Ludlow. In his memory, a cherry tree was originally planted there (as referenced in “A Shropshire Lad II”), and in 2003, the Housman Society replaced it with a new cherry tree nearby.

A.E. Housman is best known for his collection of poems titled “A Shropshire Lad,” which was published in 1896. This collection includes a series of 63 poems, many of which have become famous. Some of the most well-known poems from “A Shropshire Lad” include:

1. “To an Athlete Dying Young” – This poem reflects on the glory and fleeting nature of athletic achievement.
2. “Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now” – It’s a contemplation of the beauty of cherry blossoms and the brevity of life.
3. “When I Was One-and-Twenty” – A poem about the painful lessons of love and the wisdom that comes with age.
4. “With Rue My Heart Is Laden” – A melancholic reflection on the sorrows of life.
5. “Into my heart an air that kills” – A contemplation of mortality and the inevitability of death.
6. “The Lent Lily” – A poem about the appearance of daffodils in early spring and the passage of time.

These poems are known for their simplicity, lyrical beauty, and themes of youth, love, death, and the transience of life. Housman’s work has had a lasting impact on English poetry and continues to be widely read and studied.