"When I Was In Love With You, Then I Was Clean And Brave"
Context: A. E. Housman, in the poems that made up the slim volume called A Shropshire Lad, is preoccupied with youth. Youth to him is essentially tragic, for it lasts, in its beauty, such a short while. It is also tragic because of the effects of experience on its innocence. Youth either refuses to learn or, if it learns, the lesson is one of suffering. Further, the poet has no patience with the sentimentalities traditionally associated with this period of life. In this short poem he punctures the sentimental notion that love can reform a wild young man. The little tragedy is told in eight lines:
Oh, when I was in love with you,
Then I was clean and brave,
And miles around the wonder grew
How well did I behave.
And now the fancy passes by,
And nothing will remain,
And miles around they'll say that I
Am quite myself again.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.
