An English scholar and
poet of some note, b. 1859, d. 1936. His most famous work is his collection "A Shropshire Lad". My personal favorite poem is his defense of the value of
poetry in "Terence, this is
stupid stuff". It is
clever, and has a sense of humor about his own art. A sample:
Oh many a peer of England brews
Livelier liquor than the Muse
And malt does more than Milton can
To justify God's ways to man.
Other great poems by him include: "When I Was One and Twenty", and "To an Athlete Dying Young". Those true Simpsons fanatics out there will recognize that Krusty the Clown's retirement speech is this poem. And for you Science Fiction fans out there, the opening to William Barton's "When Heaven Fell" was written by Housman.