A Shropshire Lad: LXIII, I hoed and trenched and weeded, by Alfred Edward Housman

LXIII		C

I hoed and trenched and weeded,			Q
And took the flowers to fair:
I brought them home unheeded;
The hue was not the wear.

So up and down I sow them	5
For lads like me to find,
When I shall lie below them,			Q
A dead man out of mind.

Some seed the birds devour,		C
And some the season mars,	10
But here and there will flower,
The solitary stars,			Q

And fields will yearly bear them
As light-leaved spring comes on,			Q
And luckless lads will wear them	15		Q
When I am dead and gone.

Key: V: Textual Variation. C: Commentary. Q: Question. Glossary

Top ▲ Glossary

Line	Word	Glossary
1	hoed	Dug or weeded using a hoe (a garden implement used for weeding or turning over soil. A long pole with a small flat metal blade set into one end at a right angle to the pole.)
1	trenched	Cleared trenches and ditches to allow drainage
3	unheeded	Unnoticed
4	hue	Colour
4	wear	Fashion
10	mars	Spoils

Top ▲ Commentary

Line	Commentary
	Date: Not known
	In his lecture, "The Name and Nature of Poetry" (1933), AEH described the composition of the poem thus, " Two of the stanzas, I do not say which, came into my head, just as they are printed, while I was crossing the corner of Hampstead Heath…A third stanza came with a little coaxing after tea. One more was needed, but it did not come: I had to turn to and compose it myself, and that was a laborious business. I wrote it thirteen times, and it was more than a twelvemonth before I got it right" (NNP, p.53)
9	cf Matthew: 13: 4 "some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them up
meter	Four line stanzas, alternating seven and six syllables, rhymed alternately.

Top ▲ Questions

Line	Question
1	If the poem is taken to be an extended metaphor for the writing of poetry, what does each of these verbs represent in that process? Considering Housman's comment about the composition of this poem, cited in the commentary, is there some irony here?
7	Of which other lines from the collection does this line remind you?
12	Comment on the use of alliteration in this poem.
14	What do you think "light-leaved" means?
15	Why is it "luckless" lads who will wear the flowers?