A. E. Housman
1859–1936
A. E. Housman (1859–1936) was an English classical scholar and poet, born in Worcestershire. He spent his career as a professor of Latin at University College London and Cambridge, known for his rigorous editions of Manilius.
His collection A Shropshire Lad (1896) became one of the best-loved books of English poetry, especially during the First World War. Its short, plain, melancholy lyrics on youth, love and early death include “Loveliest of trees, the cherry now”, “When I was one-and-twenty” and “To an Athlete Dying Young”.
