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Apr 3, 2017 · 1. ‘ Loveliest of trees, the cherry now ’. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more …. One of A. E. Housman’s most widely anthologised poems, this sees the speaker reflecting on the fact that, aged 20, he only has 50 of his threescore years and ...
- On Wenlock Edge The Wood's in Trouble
The gale, it plies the saplings double, It blows so hard,...
- The Posthumous Lad
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver...
- Tarry, Delight, so Seldom Met
Housman’s poem about fleeting happiness. Happiness doesn’t...
- Ae Housman
The bells ring out for the New Year in this poem, ‘New...
- To an Athlete Dying Young
The poem, like the rest of Housman’s poetry, is taut,...
- Because I Liked You Better
A poem about hopeless love. A. E. Housman (1859-1936)...
- Pick of Oscar Wilde's Best Poems
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Oscar Wilde...
- How Clear, How Lovely Bright
On Housman’s great ‘remorseful day’ poem. The poet and...
- On Wenlock Edge The Wood's in Trouble
Jan 10, 2018 · Here are ten of the best poems featuring hearts. 1. Sir Philip Sidney, ‘ My true love hath my heart, and I have his ’. My true love hath my heart, and I have his, By just exchange one for the other given: I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss; There never was a bargain better driven. His heart in me keeps me and him in one; My heart in ...
- Summary
- Structure
- Literary Devices
- Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
- Historical Context
- Similar Poetry
‘Because I Liked You Better,’ a poem by A. E. Housman describes how a speaker chose death to keep the promise he made to his beloved. At first, the speaker or the poetic personainforms the lady love that he liked more than any man can express in words. His devotion somehow irked the lady. So he promised to stay away from her and put a huge distance...
This poem consists of four stanzas. Each stanza contains four rhyming lines. There is a specific rhyme scheme in this piece and it follows the scheme of the ballad stanza. Housman uses the ABCB rhyme scheme throughout the poem. So, the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhymetogether. In each stanza, the syllable count is 7-6-7-6. The stress fa...
The most important literary device of this poem is enjambment. This device helps the poet to internally connect the lines. For example, the first two lines, “Because I liked you better/ Than suits a man to say.” In the last line of the first stanza, “To throw the thought away,” there is a repetition of the “t” sound in the neighboring words. It is ...
Stanza One
‘Because I Liked You Better’ begins with a sense of continuity. The relationship has ended. Still, in the speaker’s memory, it is fresh. He liked a lady better than a man can convey in words. Using this hyperbolicexpression, he reveals his dedication to the lady. But his devotion to the lady backfired. It made her angry, to be specific, annoyed. For this reason, he promises to throw such thoughts away from his mind. In this way, the first stanza shows the character of the lady as well as the...
Stanza Two
As he has said earlier, he had to stop loving that lady. To put a world between them, he parted with a “stiff and dry” heart. The words “stiff” and “dry” are used to make a comparisonbetween the speaker’s heart to an object. Apart from that, Housman uses the word, “world” to depict the distance between the earth and the realm of death. At the time of parting, the lady told him to forget her as early as he could. In reply, he told her there was nothing to fear. As he would keep that promise.
Stanza Three
In the third stanza of ‘Because I Liked You Better,’ the speaker presents an image of a grave. This grave belongs to none other than the speaker. If the lady comes across his grave accidentally, she can find the clover and whiten it. Clover is a kind of plant, with dense globular flowers and three-lobed leaves. It can be seen around his grave. When the lady passes by, no tall flower in the “trefoiled grass” raises its head to meet her. “Trefoiled grass” is a metaphorfor clover. The flowers wi...
‘Because I Liked You Better’ appears in A. E. Housman’s poetrycollection “More Poems,” is associated with his poem cycle, “A Shropshire Lad”. It is the 31st poem of the series. After he died in 1936, his brother Laurence over the next two years published his poem from his manuscripts. “More Poems” was published in 1936. Poems 30 and 31 of this coll...
Here is a list of a few poems that similarly speak on the themes present in A. E. Housman’s ‘Because I Liked You Better’. 1. My Life Closed Twice Before Its Closeby Emily Dickinson– It’s one of the best-known poems of Dickinson. This poem uses heartbreak as a metaphor for death and experiments with the meaning of “closure.” Read more Emily Dickinso...
- Male
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
Summary. ‘ When I Was One-and-Twenty ’ by A. E. Housman is a moralistic poem that tells of a young man’s mistakes in love, despite being given advice. In the first lines of this poem, the speaker describes how when he was 21 years old a wise man gave him some advice. He was told that he would have better luck in love if he gave all his ...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
Ask a question. "When I Was One-and-Twenty" is a poem by British writer A.E. Housman, published in his extremely popular first collection A Shropshire Lad (1896). It is a short poem made up of two stanzas, in which the young speaker talks about the experience of falling in—and out—of love. At age 21, the speaker was told by a wise man that ...
But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies. But keep your fancy free.”. But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me. When I was one-and-twenty. I heard him say again, “The heart out of the bosom. Was never given in vain;
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When I Was One-and-Twenty. ‘When I Was One-and-Twenty’ by A. E. Housman is a relatable poem that explores how easy it is to make mistakes in one’s love life, even when one knows exactly what they should do. When I was one-and-twenty. I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas. But not your heart away;
