Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

Additional Poems. 11a. They Shall Have Breath that Never Were

— They shall have breath that never were,
But he that was shall have it ne’er;
The unconceived and unbegot
Shall look on heaven, but he shall not.

— The heart with many wildfires lit,
Ice is not so cold as it.
The thirst that rivers could not lay
A little dust has quenched for aye;
And in a fathom’s compass lie
Thoughts much wider than the sky.

1. Last Poems. 21. The Fairies Break Their Dances
2. Additional Poems. 16. Some Can Gaze and not Be Sick
3. More Poems. 18. Delight it Is in Youth and May
4. More Poems. 21. The World Goes None the Lamer
5. A Shropshire Lad. 46. Bring, in this Timeless Grave to Throw

Print

1880 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version