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Selected patterns of imagery in the poetry of A. E. Housman: The creation of a world
Abstract
Although the poetry of A. E. Housman has achieved popularity and critical esteem, some critics find it narrow, immaturely pessimistic, and technically conventional. This study demonstrates that Housman's poetry possesses considerable emotional depth. Also it emphasizes Housman's technical skills as they relate to his working out of themes by use of imagery. It traces in his family experience, his college years, and his thwarted love for Moses Jackson themes of death, disappointment, and alienation. Key patterns of his imagery are examined under four headings: (1) Imagery of Space and Boundaries. (2) Imagery of Time and Motion. (3) Imagery of Sound and Silence. (4) Imagery of Light, Darkness, and Color. Housman's imagery of space and boundaries provides symbolic landscapes for people living in a deterministic universe. His landscapes symbolize aspirations, separations, disappointments, and both the finality and ease of death. Imagery of time and motion stresses variations in the carpe diem motif, and also examines the ways in which time separates people and creates changes that both intensify life and lead to disappointments. Imagery of sound and silence conceptualizes the voices of people, sounds in nature, and sounds made by objects as they effect human actions. Imagery of light, darkness, and color centers on the cycle of the day as it symbolizes the life cycle, showing movements from aspiration to despair, extinction, and peace. These four image patterns often appear in the same poems, and close examination of them reveals a drama of people trapped in a mechanistic universe, victimized by arbitrary fate, and yearning for something better. Housman's symbolic images are particularly illuminating in that they reveal the poet's empathy for the hopes and suffering of all people. The memorability of his poetry lies in more than simple archetypes, plain language, and accessible meters. A study of his image patterns demonstrates a subtlety of tone and theme that has not hitherto been sufficiently recognized.
Subject Area
British and Irish literature|Modern literature
Recommended Citation
Marcus, Erin Jenean, "Selected patterns of imagery in the poetry of A. E. Housman: The creation of a world" (1994). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9425296.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9425296