Presenter: Lorra Jones
Mentor: Corbett Upton
Oral Presentation
Major: English
A. E. Housman alludes to his personal frustrations as a closeted gay man in his poetic collection A Shropshire Lad by writing about the tragedies of other “lads,” many of whom I will read as homosexual; in this manner, he transforms A Shropshire Lad into a social statement about the treatment of homosexuals during the Victorian era. I will look at two poems in depth which I believe address homosexuality: poems XV “Look not in my eyes, for fear” and XLIV “Shot? So quick so clean an ending?” Housman lived during a time when being homosexual was both illegal and frowned upon, impacting his personal angst concerning his homosexuality. I do not believe Housman’s poems were intended to be an obvious political statement concerning homosexuality. Many allusions and references are buried within poems addressing young soldiers. However, the use of ballad form, easily remembered and often put to music, combined with Housman’s determination to self-publish these poems after several editorial rejections, speaks for the importance that the author felt they carried. It is known that Housman sent a copy of A Shropshire Lad to Oscar Wilde when he was in prison. Thus, I argue that what appears to be a collection of traditional pastoral lyrics can be read as a radical political statement.