A Critical Biography A. E. HOUSMAN A Critical Biography By the same author THE LANGUAGE OF JANE AUSTEN SPEECH IN THE ENGLISH NOVEL THOMAS HARDY THOMAS HARDY: The Writer and his Background (editor) WILKIE COLLINS: The Critical Heritage (editor) NABOKOV: The Critical Heritage (editor) A DICKENS COMPANION D. H. LAWRENCE: Interviews and Recollections (editor) TENNYSON: Interviews and Recollections (editor) HENRY JAMES: Interviews and Recollections (editor) E. M. FORSTER'S POSTHUMOUS FICTION A KIPLING COMPANION THOMAS HARDY ANNUAL I "".,.1 \ , I \ I / A. E. Housman by Francis Dodd (National Portrait Gallery) A. E. HOUSMAN A Critical Biography Norman Page © Norman Page 1983 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1983 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1983 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-06551-6 ISBN 978-1-349-06549-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06549-3 ToBen Contents A. E. Housman frontispiece List of Plates Vill Acknowledgments IX Note on the Referencing System Xl Introduction: 'All that need be known' A Worcestershire Lad 16 2 Oxford 29 3 The Years of Penance 47 4 'Picked out of the gutter' 64 5 Cambridge I 96 6 Cambridge II 128 7 The Scholar 162 8 The Poet 179 Epilogue 207 Notes and References 209 Index 232 Vll List of Plates (a) Alfred, aged 7, with his brother Robert, aged 5 (Mr N. V. H. Symons andJ. M. C. Pugh); (b) Alfred Housman at the age of eighteen (Mr N. V. H. Symons andJ. M. C. Pugh) 2 Family chart (incomplete) drawn up by Housman in 1908 (by kind permission of Mr Robert Symons and the Society of Authors) 3 The crew of StJohn's College, Oxford, 1880; MosesJackson is on the extreme right (Stjohn's College, Oxford) 4 (a) Moses Jackson in later life (Mr Gerald Symons); (b) Housman at the age of thirty-five (Mr Gerald Symons) 5 Caricature of Housman at University College by Mortimer (later Sir Mortimer) Wheeler (by kind permission of Mr Michael Wheeler, QC) 6 Extracts from Housman's diary (by kind permission of Mr Robert Symons, the Society of Authors and the British Library) 7 (a) Housman in about 1911 (Mr Gerald Symons); (b) Housman at seventy: his passport photograph (Mr Gerald Symons) 8 Housman's last correspondence: a postcard to his sister (Katharine Symons) written five days before his death; the date and day have been added in another hand (Trinity College, Cambridge) The publishers wish particularly to thank Mr and Mrs G. Symons, Mr Robert Symons and the Society of Authors, as the literary representative of the Estate of A. E. Housman, for their patience during the illustration research. Vlll Acknowledgments One of the most pleasant aspects of engaging in scholarly research is the amount offriendliness, generosity, and kindness beyond the call of duty that one encounters; and it is as no mere matter ofform that I acknowledge some of my debts to those who have assisted me in a wide variety of ways. Professor Edward Griew and Mr John Sparrow read a draft of this book; without their scrupulous, expert and patient criticisms the final version would contain many more inaccuracies and infelicities. Mr Henry Maas, the editor of Housman's letters, generously placed at my disposal his files, including those of letters he had collected but not included in his edition. Mr Paul Naiditch has been, on many occasions, a mine of precise and accurate information. Among the many institutions whose staffs have come to my help I should like especially to mention the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (Mr Trevor Kaye and Miss Rosemary Graham); the Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge (the Pepys Librarian, Mr R. C. Latham, and Mrs Coleman); the London Library; the Library of University College, London (MrsJ. Percival); the British Museum (Miss K. Janet Wallace); Ramsgate Library (Mr C. E. Busson); and, by no means least, the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress. I am also grateful for information and assistance to Professor Robert Ackerman; Mr Frederick B. Adams, Jr; Professor D. R. Shackleton Bailey; Professor William M. Calder III; Mr Stephen Calvert; Professor Glyn Daniel; Professor Leonard Findlay; Mr Martin Higham; Mr David Newsome; Mr Richard Palmer; Dr L. Pars; Mrs Margaret M. Phillips; the Rt Hon. J. Enoch Powell; the late Professor I. A. Richards; Mr Jeffrey Weeks; Mr L. P. Wilkinson. lowe a considerable debt of gratitude to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for a fellowship that enabled me to concentrate on writing this book in 1979/80, and to the University of Alberta for providing me with leisure and with financial and research assistance; also to Mr William Barclay for assistance with the notes and the index, and to Mrs Marguerite IX