The Laws of God, the Laws of Man

The laws of God, the laws of man,

He may keep that will and can;
Not I: let God and man decree
Laws for themselves and not for me;
And if my ways are not as theirs
Let them mind their own affairs.
Their deeds I judge and much condemn,
Yet when did I make laws for them?
Please yourselves, say I, and they
Need only look the other way.
But no, they will not; they must still
Wrest their neighbour to their will,
And make me dance as they desire
With jail and gallows and hell-fire.
And how am I to face the odds
Of man's bedevilment and God's?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.
They will be master, right or wrong;
Though both are foolish, both are strong.
And since, my soul, we cannot fly
To Saturn nor to Mercury,
Keep we must, if keep we can,
These foreign laws of God and man.

A. E. Housman 18591936

The Laws of God, the Laws of Man

1. Write a paragraph concerning the subject matter of this poem
The subject matter of The Laws of God, the Laws of man co-exist harmoniously
but yet are synonymous.
2. Write a paragraph concerning the subject matter of this poem
The subject matter of this poem concerns a utopian society where the laws of
god and man are exactly the same. He imagines this world, and then contrasts
this to his current world of Victorian England, to show the incongruity between the
two worlds. He concludes by saying that although a utopia may not be possible,
some people still keep in mind the foreign laws of god and man, indicating that
we can still try to maximize good in this world.
3. Provide a description of the poetic persona
The poetic persona describes himself as one of the men who despairs at the
fact that we have inherent limitations as human beings.
4. How would you describe the tone of the poem? (ensure you understand what
tone means)
The tone of the poem is embittered as the poet depicts a utopia where there is a
clear distinction of right and wrong. However they arent being forced to conform
and that everyone has individual rights.
5. Housman was a contemporary of H. G. Wells. Knowing what you do about the
socio-cultural milieu of late Victorian and Georgian England (up to the
beginning of WWI), how would you interpret the theme of Housmans poem?
The theme of Housmans poem is about the limitations of men and that we dont
have mastery over our world to create a utopia. In the social and cultural mileu of
Victorian England and the industrial revolution, man was starting to believe that
we could accomplish anything. Housman brings us back to earth with the quote,
I a stranger and afraid, in a world I never made
6. How would you describe the style / language of the poem and how does it
influence the readers opinion of the subject matter?
7. Describe a poetic / language technique used by the poet in, The Laws of
God, The Laws of Man
8. Provide an example of symbolism and what it suggests

9. Why does the poetic persona describe the laws as foreign? The poet
describes the laws as foreign as they are foreign to him and that the laws
appear synonymous but yet to him are starkly contrasting.
10. Explain the resolution reached in the final rhyming couplet
11. Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th and 20 th
century

philosophers.

Undertake

research

into

the

philosophy

of

Existentialism and explain how it may or may not be relevant to the theme of
Housmans poem. Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach which
emphasizes the existence of the individual person as free and responsible
agents determining their own development through acts of the will.
12. Describe the structure of the poem and what is the effect of its rhythmic
quality?
13. This poem represents a picture of the world (as it was then) seen through the
eyes of an individual. How would you present the same theme in your world
(as it is today) by comparison?