“Nature, not content with denying him the ability to think, has endowed him with the ability to write.”
In this quote, A.E. Housman appears to be highlighting the irony of human nature. While humans may lack the ability to think critically or logically at times, they do possess the unique skill of being able to communicate their thoughts and ideas through writing. This suggests that although humans may not always have the gift of reason, they have been gifted with the means to express themselves and share their thoughts with the world.
The quote by A.E. Housman highlights the remarkable ability of humans to communicate and express themselves through writing, despite any limitations they may face. In today's digital age, where communication is largely done through written means such as texts, emails, and social media posts, this quote holds even more significance. It serves as a reminder of the importance of written expression in connecting with others and shaping the way we communicate in the modern world.
"Nature, not content with denying him the ability to think, has endowed him with the ability to write." - A.E. Housman
Reflecting on the quote by A.E. Housman, consider the following questions:
“Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrists?And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists?And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air?Oh they're taking him to prison for the color of his hair.”
“Into my heart an air that killsFrom yon far country blows:What are those blue remembered hills,What spires, what farms are those?That is the land of lost content,I see it shining plain,The happy highways where I wentAnd cannot come again.”
“Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out. Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure.”
“The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild;He has devoured the infant child.The infant child is not awareIt has been eaten by a bear.""Infant Innocence”
“When I watch the living meet,And the moving pageant fileWarm and breathing through the streetWhere I lodge a little while,If the heats of hate and lustIn the house of flesh are strong,Let me mind the house of dustWhere my sojourn shall be long.In the nation that is notNothing stands that stood before;There revenges are forgot,And the hater hates no more;Lovers lying two and twoAsk not whom they sleep beside,And the bridegroom all night throughNever turns him to the bride.”
“Diffugere NivesHorace, Odes, iv, 7The snows are fled away, leaves on the shawsAnd grasses in the mead renew their birth,The river to the river-bed withdraws,And altered is the fashion of the earth.The Nymphs and Graces three put off their fearAnd unapparelled in the woodland play.The swift hour and the brief prime of the yearSay to the soul, Thou wast not born for aye.Thaw follows frost; hard on the heel of springTreads summer sure to die, for hard on hersComes autumn with his apples scattering;Then back to wintertide, when nothing stirs.But oh, whate'er the sky-led seasons mar,Moon upon moon rebuilds it with her beams;Come we where Tullus and where Ancus areAnd good Aeneas, we are dust and dreams.Torquatus, if the gods in heaven shall addThe morrow to the day, what tongue has told?Feast then thy heart, for what thy heart has hadThe fingers of no heir will ever hold.When thou descendest once the shades among,The stern assize and equal judgment o'er,Not thy long lineage nor thy golden tongue,No, nor thy righteousness, shall friend thee more.Night holds Hippolytus the pure of stain,Diana steads him nothing, he must stay;And Theseus leaves Pirithous in the chainThe love of comrades cannot take away.”