Terence+this+is+Stupid+Stuff

Terence, this is stupid stuff By: A.E. Housman (Chapter 1, #11, pg 574)

The Poem 'Terence, this is stupid stuff: You eat your victuals fast enough; There can't be much amiss, 'tis clear, To see the rate you drink your beer. But oh, good Lord, the verse you make, It gives a chap the belly-ache. The cow, the old cow, she is dead; It sleeps well, the horned head: We poor lads, 'tis our turn now To hear such tunes as killed the cow. Pretty friendship 'tis to rhyme Your friends to death before their time Moping melancholy mad: Come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad.'

Why, if 'tis dancing you would be, There's brisker pipes than poetry. Say, for what were hop-yards meant, Or why was Burton built on Trent? Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God's ways to man. Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink For fellows whom it hurts to think: Look into the pewter pot To see the world as the world's not. And faith, 'tis pleasant till 'tis past: The mischief is that 'twill not last. Oh I have been to Ludlow fair And left my necktie God knows where, And carried half way home, or near, Pints and quarts of Ludlow beer: Then the world seemed none so bad, And I myself a sterling lad; And down in lovely muck I've lain, Happy till I woke again. Then I saw the morning sky: Heigho, the tale was all a lie; The world, it was the old world yet, I was I, my things were wet, And nothing now remained to do But begin the game anew.

Therefore, since the world has still Much good, but much less good than ill, And while the sun and moon endure Luck's a chance, but trouble's sure, I'd face it as a wise man would, And train for ill and not for good. 'Tis true, the stuff I bring for sale Is not so brisk a brew as ale: Out of a stem that scored the hand I wrung it in a weary land. But take it: if the smack is sour, The better for the embittered hour; It should do good to heart and head When your soul is in my soul's stead; And I will friend you, if I may, In the dark and cloudy day.

There was a king reigned in the East: There, when kings will sit to feast, They get their fill before they think With poisoned meat and poisoned drink. He gathered all that springs to birth From the many-venomed earth; First a little, thence to more, He sampled all her killing store; And easy, smiling, seasoned sound, Sate the king when healths went round. They put arsenic in his meat And stared aghast to watch him eat; They poured strychnine in his cup And shook to see him drink it up: They shook, they stared as white's their shirt: Them it was their poison hurt. —I tell the tale that I heard told. Mithridates, he died old.

Biography

Alfred Edward Housman was born in Fockbury, England on March 26, 1859. At the age of 18, he attended St. Johns in Oxford. During this time, Housman fell in love with his ‘straight’ roommate, which made him so distracted that he failed his final exams that year. He eventually graduated and became a clerk in the Patent Office in London. He held this position until he was offered to be a Latin professor at University College, and later transferred to Trinity College in Cambridge. He lived like a hermit, and did not seek fame or glory for his works. He had three collections of poems released altogether, with two published during his lifetime and the last one after his death in 1936.



T.I.M.E.

Theme: > > > Imagery: Symbols > > Allusions > Meter: Structure > > Speakers > Setting > Emotion: Tone/Mood > Experience >
 * Alcohol: drunks are always happy, but with nothing to make them happy aside from drink. Terence, the speaker, drinks beer himself and realizes its effects on the mind and body. He doesn’t discourage drinking, just that alcohol is mainly used to forget one’s problems, at least at the time it was.
 * Poetry: Terence is a writer, and the first stanza is his friend asking why his writing is so depressing. This shows that this poem is also about the impact of literature on a person.
 * Life Lessons: This poem is a way for Terence to explain why he creates such depressing works. He feels that he has to write these poems to prepare his readers for the world around them, which Terence feels has “much good, but less good than ill”.
 * Beer: temporary happiness
 * Dead Cow: used by first speaker to make fun of classical poetry
 * King Mithridates: an old tale about an assassination attempt, the king knew the dangers of being royalty, so he sampled small amounts of poison to build up a tolerance. Terence says that his poetry is his reader’s poison to help them deal with the stresses of the world
 * 5 stanzas
 * Has a consistent AABBCCDDEEFFGG rhyme scheme
 * There are two, Terence and his acquaintance. Although the poem starts off as Terence’s friend as the speaker, the speaker shifts to Terence in the second stanza and stays tht way for the remaining 3 stanzas.
 * Presumably in a bar or tavern
 * The tone starts off lively and fun, with words of encouragement that rival those of a drunkard, yet the tone takes a turn in the 3rd stanza as Terence explains the dark reasoning for his style of writing. The tone becomes happier again as he tells the story of Mithridates which ends the poem on a lighter note.
 * This poem is not only an interesting take on literature, but also provides a good explanation into why writers may write sad or depressing works. The poem takes the reader on a journey through time from old London, to ancient Greece.

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Works Cited

"Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff." Enotes. Enotes Inc, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. .

"A. E. Housman." Poets. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. .

"A.E. Housman." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. .

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Terence, this is stupid stuff." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.

"Terence, this is stupid stuff." Housman Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. .