ALFRED EDWARD HOUSEMAN

A.E. Houseman was an English poet and scholar born on march 1859 in Fockbury Worcestershine England

As a scholar he is well-respected for his annotated editions of Marcus Manilius , a first-century Roman astronomer.
He wrote two poetry volumes , A Shropshire Lad (1896) and Last Poems (1922) , the latter of which met with such success

EARLY LIFE

• A year after his birth , his family moved to nearby Bromsgrove
• In 1877 Houseman attended St. John's College in Oxford
• For the next 11 years Houseman worked as a clerk in the Patent Office
• In his spare time he studied Greek and Roman classics in detail

CAREER SUCCESS

In 1892 Housman became the Chair of Latin at University College , London.
A Shropshire Lad (1896) , was based on classical and traditional models

Throughout 1903-1930 he edited the works of Marcus Manilius , a first-century Roman astronomer - this major scholarly effort gained him respect and fame . During these years Housman worked in other capacities, including as a Kennedy Professor of Latin in Cambridge and a fellow of Trinity College in 1911

PERSONAL LIFE

Although Houseman experienced success as a scholar and a poet , he was known as a recluse who rejected honors and avoided attention

He never married , as he was gay , though he fell in love with his Oxford roommate Moses Jackson

It is believed that Houseman in Cambridge England wrote Last Poems for Jackson who read it before he died in 1922

DEATH AND LEGACY

Houseman's last years were spent at a nursing home in Cambridge.
He died in his sleep on
April 30 1936

His second and last volume of poetry , Last poems (1922) , met with much success.
After Housman's death in 1936 , his brother Laurence published third and fourth volumes of his work , called respectively More Poems and Complete Poems(1939).

Dozens of composers such as George Butterworth and Ralph Vaughan Williams set his poems to their music

His work was not forgotten after his passing ; A houseman society was dedicated to him in England