A Shropshire Lad

Comprised of 63 short poems, this captivating collection lingers on themes of youthfulness and mortality, taking as its setting an idyllic Shropshire countryside. In strikingly simple verses—including the famous stanzas known as "When I was one-and-twenty"—Housman creates beautifully nostalgic and wistful works haunted by the transience of youth in a society in which young men are sent to war and to work.