“Shot?

so quick, so
clean an ending?”
Poem XLIV from A Shropshire Lad
THE POET
BEHIND
THE POEM
Housman is considered
“romantic pessimist” in the
Victorian & Edwardian era. He
wrote in sombre and negative
tones for most of his poems. As
he said in 1933, the nature of
poetry is about the emotions,
not the thoughts or ideas.

Romantic
Alfred Edward Housman, the eldest of the
nine children of a Bromsgrove solicitor, was
born in March 26, 1859 in Fockbury,
Worcestershire, England.

He went to school, but later on, took care of

his dying mother.

While away, his mother died. He was 12 years

old at that time. This darkened his view of the
world and costs his belief in a “Personal

His Early
God.”
In 1877, after “winning a scholarship” to
study Classics in St. John’s College,
Oxford, he met two of his great friends:
Alfred W. Pollard (suggested name for
first collection) & Moses John Jackson
(object of affection & lifetime friend).

Housman gained a First in Moderations;

however, he failed his final
examinations and left without a degree.

College
Housman was employed in the Patent
Office.

Housman continued his work on textual

criticism of classical authors there. He
worked on the manuscripts of the works
of classic authors.

He wrote intelligent commentaries

showing his “disdain for the unscholarly.”

Patent
After being recognized as a great Classics
scholar, he became a Professor in Latin in
1892 at London University College.

In 1911, he became The Kennedy Chair of

Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge.

He was also a part of Cambridge

Philosophical Society and enjoyed the
company in the High Table.

Teaching
Housman began writing poems and in
1896, he published 63 poems under the
title A Shropshire Lad. He paid for the
publication of the first edition.

At first, it did not gain a lot of attention.

However, when the Boer War (1899) and
WWI (1914) came, people started
reading it as the poems relate to the
youth who died in those wars.

A Shropshire
When Jackson was dying in
1922, Housman assembled and
published more well-crafted
poems in Last Poems.

In 1923, he stopped writing

poems but continued giving
lectures.

Last Poems
He continued teaching until April 30, 1936
when he died in Cambridge at age 77.

Before he died, he instructed for his

unpublished poems and letters to be
destroyed.

He lived a very recluse and secret life

despite being an acclaimed poet & scholar.

His Last Days

His brother, Laurence,
posthumously published a
third and fourth volume of
his poems under the titles
More Poems and Complete
Poems in 1936 and 1939
respectively.

Posthumous
 “Shot? so
quick, so
clean an
ending?”
Inspired by the suicide of
18-year-old Woolwich Cadet
 XLIV: Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Oh that was right, lad, that was brave:
Yours was not an ill for mending,
'Twas best to take it to the grave.
 XLIV: Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Oh you had forethought, you could reason,

And saw your road and where it led,
And early wise and brave in season
Put the pistol to your head.
 XLIV: Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Oh soon, and better so than later

After long disgrace and scorn,
You shot dead the household traitor,
The soul that should not have been born.
 XLIV: Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Right you guessed the rising morrow

And scorned to tread the mire you must:
Dust's your wages, son of sorrow,
But men may come to worse than dust.
 XLIV: Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Souls undone, undoing others, --

Long time since the tale began.
You would not live to wrong your brothers:
Oh lad, you died as fits a man.
 XLIV: Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Now to your grave shall friend and stranger

With ruth and some with envy come:
Undishonoured, clear of danger,
Clean of guilt, pass hence and home.
 XLIV: Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Turn safe to rest, no dreams, no waking;

And here, man, here's the wreath I've made:
'Tis not a gift that's worth the taking,
But wear it and it will not fade.
 Syllables: 8 per line, 32 in this stanza

Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?

Oh that was right, lad, that was brave:
Yours was not an ill for mending,
'Twas best to take it to the grave.
 Syllables: uneven lines, 33 in this stanza
8+1 hyper syllable
Oh you had forethought, you could reason,
And saw your road and where it led,
8+1 hyper syllable
And early wise and brave in season
6+1 hyper syllable
Put the pistol to your head.
 Syllables: uneven lines, 32 in this stanza
8+1 hyper syllable
Oh soon, and better so than later
6+1 hyper syllable
After long disgrace and scorn,
You shot dead the household traitor,
The soul that should not have been born.
 Syllables: 8 per line, 32 in this stanza

Right you guessed the rising morrow

And scorned to tread the mire you must:
Dust's your wages, son of sorrow,
But men may come to worse than dust.
 Syllables: uneven lines, 32 in this stanza

Souls undone, undoing others, --

6+1 hyper syllable
Long time since the tale began.
8+1 hyper syllable
You would not live to wrong your brothers:
Oh lad, you died as fits a man.
 Syllables: uneven lines, 32 in this stanza
8+1 hyper syllable
Now to your grave shall friend and stranger
With ruth and some with envy come:
Undishonoured, clear of danger,
6+1 hyper syllable
Clean of guilt, pass hence and home.
Syllables: alternating lines, 34 in this stanza
8+1 hyper syllable
Turn safe to rest, no dreams, no waking;
And here, man, here's the wreath I've made:
8+1 hyper syllable
'Tis not a gift that's worth the taking,
But wear it and it will not fade.
 / U|/ U| / U|/ U
Shot? so quick, so clean an ending? 1st line: Trochaic
U / | U / |U / |U /
Oh that was right, lad, that was brave: 2 nd
line: Iambic
/ U| / U|/ U|/ U Alternating Pattern
Yours was not an ill for mending,
4 metres = tetrameter
U / |U /|U/|U /
'Twas best to take it to the grave. Scansion
Shot? so quick, so clean an ending? A
Oh that was right, lad, that was brave: B
Yours was not an ill for mending, A
'Twas best to take it to the grave. B Rhyme
Oh you had forethought, you could reason, C
And saw your road and where it led, D
And early wise and brave in season C
Put the pistol to your head.
D Rhyme
Now to your grave shall friend and stranger E
With ruth and some with envy come: K
Undishonoured, clear of danger, E
Clean of guilt, pass hence and home.
K/L
Rhyme
 Enjambement Repetition of “so” -
Shot? so quick, so clean an ending? parallelism
Consonance of /n/
Oh that was right, lad, that was brave: Repetition of “that” -
Consonance of /n/ parallelism
Yours was not an ill for mending,
'Twas best to take it to the grave. Syncope
Alliteration of /t/

Literary
 Repetition of
Enjambement “you” -
Oh you had forethought, you could reason, parallelism
Parallelism –

Internal rhyme /d/

use of “and”

And saw your road and where it led, Parallelism –

And early wise and brave in season “And…and…”
Alliteration of /p/
Put the pistol to your head.

Literary
Parallelism of first
syllable with other
stanza Enjambement
Oh soon, and better so than later Alliteration of /t/
After long disgrace and scorn,
Consonance of /t/
You shot dead the household traitor,
Alliteration of /b/
The soul that should not have been born.

Literary
 Consonance of /r/
Right you guessed the rising morrow
Alliteration of /m/
And scorned to tread the mire you must:
Syncope Alliteration of /s/
Dust's your wages, son of sorrow,
Alliteration of /m/
But men may come to worse than dust.

Literary
 Repetition of undo-
Souls undone, undoing others, --
Alliteration of /t/
Long time since the tale began.
You would not live to wrong your brothers:
Consonance of /d/
Oh lad, you died as fits a man.
IRONY

Literary
Now to your grave shall friend and stranger
Repetition of “with”
With ruth and some with envy come:
Consonance of /r/
Undishonoured, clear of danger,
Alliteration of /h/
Clean of guilt, pass hence and home.

Literary
 Repetition of “no”
Turn safe to rest, no dreams, no waking;
Repetition of “here” syncopes
And here, man, here's the wreath I've made:
syncopes Consonance of /t/
'Tis not a gift that's worth the taking,
Repetition of “it”
But wear it and it will not fade.

Literary
Although A Shropshire Lad is a
pastoral poem collection, it
does not only focus on nature
or youth. It focuses on
Housman’s feelings of despair,
love, regrets, etc.
This poem is a reflection of
Housman’s feelings.

Poem’s

Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?
Oh that was right, lad, that was brave:
Yours was not an ill for mending,
'Twas best to take it to the grave.
Oh you had forethought, you could reason,
  And saw your road and where it led,
The boy was just beginning to be wise, but is
And early wise and brave in season
  Put the pistol to your head.
Shows shock and the poem’s subject
Tells the boy that what he did was brave
His illness is not curable
It is better for him to die
     The boy has anticipated something
The boy imagined how things would end
already brave
He ended his own life
Meanings
Oh soon, and better so than later
  After long disgrace and scorn,
You shot dead the household traitor,
  The soul that should not have been born.
Right you guessed the rising morrow
And scorned to tread the mire you must:
Dust's your wages, son of sorrow,
But men may come to worse than dust.
It is better now than later
        After facing contempt and judgment
He killed his own heart that works against him
Because of what it has caused him
Tells the boy that he made the right decision
To hate to go through his swamp-like life
Death/Peace is your reward, son of sorrow =
because he committed suicide
Others may have a fate worse than just death
Meanings
Souls undone, undoing others, -- Ruined souls, ruining others
The tale: Either the boy’s death or Story of Sin
Long time since the tale began.
Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as
You would not live to wrong your brothers: with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Oh lad, you died as fits a man. IRONY

Now to your grave shall friend and stranger Friends and strangers visit you

With ruth and some with envy come: With grief and envy

Undishonoured, clear of danger, The lad is not dishonoured & safe from society

Clean of guilt, pass hence and home. He passes from here (Earth) to home (heaven)

Meanings
Housman probably wrote this
poem thinking that the young
soldier was a homosexual too. By
ending his own life, he did not
“dishonour” himself and others. By
ending his own life, he also
prevented going through “long
disgrace and scorn.”

Jackson &
Turn safe to rest, no dreams, no waking; Continue to rest peacefully

And here, man, here's the wreath I've made: Poet presents a wreath, glorifying the boy

'Tis not a gift that's worth the taking, Not worth more than life

But wear it and it will not fade. The wreath, the symbol of eternity

Meanings
The real Shropshire Lad is A. E.
Housman himself.
He wrote more poems about this
“not an ill for mending” such as:
-”Oh Who is That Young Sinner?”
-”The Laws of God, the Laws of
Man”
-”Oh Were He and I Together”

The
The theme of the poem:

Death seems like the most

honourable and happiest
escape from a life where one
cannot love whom he/she
chooses.

Theme
 Thank you for
listening
Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?
 

Works Cited

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“A. E. Housman.” Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/a-e-housman. Accessed 29 September 2021.

“A. E. Housman – Shot? So Quick, So Clean an Ending?” Genius. https://genius.com/1992318. Accessed 29 September 2021.

“About A. E. Housman.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. https://poets.org/poet/e-housman. Accessed 29 September

2021.

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argument-about-the-poem/.
Battersby, Matilda. “Rare Unpublished A.E. Housman Poem About Unrequited Love Expected to Fetch £25,000.”

Independent, 14 February 2013, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts

entertainment/books/news/rare-unpublished-e-housman-poem-about-unrequited-love-expected- fetch-ps25- 000-

8495181.html.

Hardcastle, Martin. “A. E. Housman – Selected Poems.” Greenend.org.

https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~martinh/poems/housman.html#APxviii. Accessed 29

September 2021.

Mason, Alan. “The Poet A. E. Housman.” Deskarati, 9 March 2012, https://deskarati.com/2012/03/09/the-

poet-a-e-housman/.
Mullan, John. “What A E Housman Tells Us About Englishness.” The New Statesman. https://www.newstatesman.com

/culture/books/2016/07/what-e-housman-tells-us-about-englishness. Accessed 29 September 2021.

New Revised Standard Version. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+18%3A22

&version=NRSV. Accessed 1 October 2021.