Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 54 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: WITH RUE MY HEART IS LADEN
Last Line: IN FIELDS WHERE ROSES FADE.
Subject(s): DEATH; DESPAIR; GRAVES; MORTALITY; MOURNING; REMORSE; DEAD, THE; TOMBS; TOMBSTONES; BEREAVEMENT;
WITH rue my heart is laden
For golden friends I had,
For many a rose-lipt maiden
And many a lightfoot lad.

By brooks too broad for leaping
The lightfoot boys are laid;
The rose-lipt girls are sleeping
In fields where roses fade.


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