There, by the starlit fences The wanderer halts and hears My soul that lingers sighing About the glimmering weirs.
A. E. HousmanRead
Could man be drunk for ever With liquor, love, or fights, Lief should I rouse at morning And lief lie down of nights. But men at whiles are sober And think by fits and starts, And if they think, they fasten Their hands upon their hearts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the fleeting nature of joy and the inevitability of sober reflection in life.
A. E. Housman's quote explores the human condition, suggesting that while individuals may seek continuous pleasure through liquor, love, or conflict, there are moments of sober reflection where one must confront the deeper truths of existence. The imagery of waking in the morning and lying down at night signifies the cyclical nature of life, where moments of revelry are often interspersed with periods of serious contemplation that can weigh on the heart.
Themes
LifeJoyReflectionPleasureSorrowExistence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the balance between hedonism and responsibility.
More from A. E. Housman
All quotes →Who made the world I cannot tell; 'Tis made, and here am I in hell. My hand, though now my knuckles bleed, I never soiled with such a deed.
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I am not a pessimist but a pejorist (as George Eliot said she was not an optimist but a meliorist); and that philosophy is founded on my observation of the world, not on anything so trivial and irrelevant as personal history.
A. E. HousmanRead
Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.
A. E. HousmanRead
And malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.
A. E. HousmanRead
Oh, 'tis jesting, dancing, drinking_x000D_ _x000D_ Spins the heavy world around.
A. E. HousmanRead
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