A Shropshire Lad
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Key: V: Textual Variation. C: Commentary. Q: Question. Glossary
ASL XL “Into my heart an air that kills”
Top ▲ Glossary
| Line | Word | Glossary |
| 2 | yon | Short for yonder, ie that or those over there (regional) |
Top ▲ Commentary
| Line | Commentary |
| Date: 1886 | |
| meter | Four line stanzas of alternating eight and six syllables, (iambic quatrameter / trimeter) rhymed alternately |
Top ▲ Variations
| Line | Text | Textual variation |
| 3 | blue remembered] \ <faint bewildered> dissolving / | |
| 4 | spires] <towns> \ <fields> / \ <farms> / \ <towns> /
farms] <shires> \ <paths> / |
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| 7 | highways] <footpaths> \ <wayside> / |
Top ▲ Questions
| Line | Question |
| 1 | Explore the paradox of “an air that kills”. Might also there be a suggestion of the secondary meaning of the word “air”, ie “a melody or tune, especially a light or cheerful one”, making this once again a comment on poetry? |
| 3 | “blue remembered hills” is one of the most famous lines from Housman; in what ways is it superior to the draft versions, “faint bewildering hills” or “dissolving hills“? |
| 4 | Why are “spires” and “farms” chosen from the other types of places listed in the drafts: “towns“, “fields” and “paths“? |
| 8 | Why do you think this poem has achieved such popularity? What is its mood? |