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A.E. Housman: Rhyme in poetry is a powerful, compelling combination that can turn simple words into a musical crescendo of emotion and wonder. I chose to share and experience the poetry of A.E Housman for this report because he was an expert in rhyme. His poetry successfully uses rhyme to provide emphasis in a penetrating and compelling manner (Scott-Kivert). Housman was born in 1859, and grew into a brilliant yet humble man, who became an accomplished Professor of Latin at Cambridge University in London. I have chosen to share examples of classical rhyming style from his volume, A Shropshire Lad. A Shropshire Lad (1896) is a collection of poetry Housman wrote to reflect on his 29 years in London. It features his incredible talent in word choice and rhyme, centering on themes of pastoral beauty, unrequited love, and the patriotism of the common soldier (Academy of American Poets). The poems are written in the voice of a country youth, uprooted from his surroundings and forced to live in a city, where he clings to memories of a simpler life (Holt). The following excerpt is an example of Housman’s almost magical imagery and mechanical meter created using rhyme:
I hoed and trenched and weeded,
So up and down I sow them
Some seed the birds devour Here, rhyme resonates in a steady rhythmic pulse, much like a beating heart. It also symbolizes Housman’s memories, dreams, and respect for the natural world (Madison). The Isle of Portland is another example of Housman’s popular European-style quatrain stanzas through which he uses rhyme to develop his message:
The star-filled seas are smooth to-night
On yonder island, not to rise,
Lie you easy, dream you light, Here, one almost feels a musical dirge, created from pairs of octometer-hexameter footage. An awkward yet fitting feeling results through the use of inversion, such as “lie you easy” or “sleep you fast”. The rhyme is precise and exact. The side by side images of shadows and “the felon-quarried stone” suggest the impending death awaiting young soldiers, rhyming in a spine-tingling shiver of parataxis.
Far in a western brookland
There, in the windless night-time,
He hears: no more remembered The image of a bridge that can “hearken” or poplars that can “ sigh” is a good example of personification. There is also a strong sense of paradox present, as the author feels sad and lonely to be in the city, while at the same time thankful and comforted by thoughts of country days-gone-by. This chaos is mellowed by lines of heptameter and hexameter, patterned in an exacting, euphonious, rhythmical manner. War is one of the dominant themes in Housman’s poetry. The life of physical action clearly held a special excitement for him, even though it was so remote from his own. In his early poems the reader senses the author’s message that youth is the supreme testing time of life (Bayley). Below, is an example of how Housman uses rhyme to create a dismal, archetypal image that disturbs the reader:
On the idle hill of summer,
East and west on fields forgotten Housman’s choice of adjectives, such as “idle” hill, ”sleepy” streams, and “steady” drummer, combine the use of liquids and fricatives with the simile “like a noise in dreams” that serves to physicalize the sounds. His metronomy is mechanical in nature, emphasized by the rhyme and word choice that tie every other line together. The eight-seven rhymed stanza strongly represents the typical mood and cadence of a Housman poem, in which a note of challenge is sounded in the longer line and subsides in the shorter (Scott-Kilvert). A revelation of rhyme is consistently seen in Housman’s work, to spark a sense of emotion in the soul of his readers. Rhyme also inspires a characteristic effect of paradox and unexpected irony: “luckier may you find the night than ever you found the day." This effect is reinforced by alliteration which creates a harmony to the sound and sense of each line. There are few rhymes in English, yet Housman did a splendid job of avoiding re-use of words, curtailing common clichés (Szirtes). Housman not only used rhyme to instill a message to his audience, but he enjoyed the euphonious way it was read. He once said, “If you are going to be a poet, it will come to you naturally and you will pick up all you need from reading poetry” (Choriamb). His power to communicate with direct and personal emotion, lodging language instantly in the brain, clearly distinguished Housman from other poets of his time (Scott-Kilvert). It has been said that the first rhymes we hear are at our mother’s knee (Szirtes). Learning that Housman’s own mother died when he was twelve years old possibly played a role in his decision to incorporate rhyme as a trademark, possibly in her memory. No matter what his reasons for rhyme, I am glad he chose to use it. His poetry is evidence that a rhyming framework can send a powerful message, spark emotion, and inspire familiar imagery that welcomes the reader like the open arms of a dear, old friend.
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/631 Bayley, John. “Housman’s Poems”. Oxford: Clarendon Press and Oxford University Press. 1992. Holt, Reinhart and Winston.“The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman”. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston. 1965. Madison, James. “A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad and other Poetry”. New York: Caedmon Records, Inc. 1965. “Quotes: A.E. Housman”. Choriamb. Livejournal.com. Retrieved May 27, 2006. http://choriamb.livejournal.com/tag/a.e.+housman Scott-Kivert, Ian. “A.E. Housman”. London: The British Council and the National Book League, Longmans, Green and Co. 1965. Szirtes, George. “Formal Wear: notes on Thyme, Meter, Stanza & Pattern”. Poetry Foundation.org. Retrieved on May 27, 2006. http://www.poetryfoundaton.org/archive/feature.html?id=177613
Nominated by Jim Grabill, English |
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