A Shropshire Lad by A E Housman

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.