“Shot?

so quick, so
clean an ending?”
Poem XLIV from A Shropshire Lad
THE POET
BEHIND
THE POEM
Alfred Edward Housman,
the eldest of the nine
children of a Bromsgrove
solicitor, was born in
March 26, 1859 in
Worcestershire, England.

His Early
He started school at a normal age,
but later on, as the eldest child,
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
disbelief in a “Personal God.”

His Early
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 &
Moses John Jackson.

Housman gained a First in

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

College
1. More interested in textual criticism of classic texts
2. Did not do all the reading
3. Spent too much time with friends
4. Overconfidence
5. Ill condition of his father
6. His love for Moses Jackson
-Some claim that he kept his feelings to himself
-A source states that he actually confessed his love and
was rejected. However, they remained friends…
until Jackson’s death.
Why did he
Moses Jackson, now a civil servant,
pleaded for Housman to be 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 Horace, Ovid, Aeschylus, and
Sophocles. 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, 9 years after he
and Jackson parted ways and
many rejections from
publishing companies, he
published 63 poems under the
title A Shropshire Lad. He paid
for it fully.

A Shropshire
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 Lad” is not
about that only.

A Shropshire
When Jackson was dying in
1922, Housman assembled and
published more well-crafted
poems in Last Poems. When
Jackson died in 1923 overseas,
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. He lived a
very recluse and secret life
despite being an acclaimed
poet and scholar. He was
interred in a parish church in
Shropshire.
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
Housman is considered
“romantic pessimist” in the
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
 “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
Housman :
-is a romantic pessimist
-does not believe in a Personal
God, but does in a Supreme
Being
-has feelings that he cannot
reveal to the world
-expressed his feelings in
poetry
Who is
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
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
“Oh you had forethought, you could reason,      Telling the person that he has planned it
  And saw your road and where it led, The person imagines how things would end
And early wise and brave in season And in his passion, he is wise to…
  Put the pistol to your head. End his own life.

Oh soon, and better so than later It is better now than later

  After long disgrace and scorn,         After long sufferings (inner)
You shot dead the household traitor, Household traitor = the person’s soul
  The soul that should not have been born.” Soul that is responsible for his feelings

Meanings
Right you guessed the rising morrow Tells the man that he makes the right decision
And scorned to tread the mire you must: That it is better for him to suffer death
Dust's your wages, son of sorrow, Dust = Death
But men may come to worse than dust. Some men may experience more than death

Souls undone, undoing others, -- Undone = not dead, undoing = removing pain
Long time since the tale began. Ever since the man’s death happened
Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies
You would not live to wrong your brothers: with a female; it is an abomination.”
Oh lad, you died as fits a man. IRONY

Meanings
Housman was not able to move on
from Jackson.

He became more sorrowful when

Jackson did not invite him to his
wedding and left for Canada.

Housman had a hard life, and his

feelings were written in A
Shropshire Lad.
Jackson &
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 &
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”

A Shropshire
The poem resonates the
feelings and thoughts of
Housman, and probably other
homosexuals during his period.
Housman still remained strong
and willing to live even if he
wrote about suicides and
death.

Impact
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?
 

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Housman.

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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.

“Argument About the Poem.” Englishprojectduh. 13 December 2011,

https://englishprojectduh.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/argument-about-the-poem/.

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.

The New Jerusalem Bible. Ed. Susan Jones. New York: Doubleday, 1985. Print.