Ezra Pound

"Song in the Manner of Housman" O woe, woe, People are born and die, We also shall be dead pretty soon Therefore let us act as if we were dead already. The bird sits on the hawthorn tree But he dies also, presently. Some lads get hung, and some get shot. Woeful is this human lot. Woe! woe, etcetera.... London is a woeful place, Shropshire is much pleasanter. Then let us smile a little space Upon fond nature's morbid grace. Oh, Woe, woe, woe, etcetera."

3 likes

Source: 'Mr Housman's Message' (1911)

About the author

Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound

Poet, Critic

Ezra Pound was a pivotal modernist poet known for his innovative ideas on language and art, particularly through his influential work 'The Cantos'.

All quotes by Ezra Pound →

Same author

More quotes by Ezra Pound

See all →
Ezra Pound Poet, Critic

"The technique of infamy is to start two lies at once and get people arguing heatedly over which is the truth."

Read quote
Ezra Pound Poet, Critic

"The only chance for victory over the brainwash is the right of every man to have his ideas judged one at a time. You never get clarity as long as you have these packaged words, as long as a word is used by twenty-five people in twenty-five different ways. That seems to me to be the first fight, if there is going to be any intellect left."

Read quote