Laws Of God Laws Of Man v63y

The Laws of God, the Laws of Man The laws of God, the laws of man, He may keep that will and can; Not I: let God and man decree Laws for themselves and not for me; And if my ways are not as theirs Let them mind their own affairs. Their deeds I judge and much condemn, Yet when did I make laws for them? Please yourselves, say I, and they Need only look the other way. But no, they will not; they must still Wrest their neighbour to their will, And make me dance as they desire With jail and gallows and hell-fire. And how am I to face the odds Of man's bedevilment and God's? I, a stranger and afraid In a world I never made. They will be master, right or wrong; Though both are foolish, both are strong. And since, my soul, we cannot fly To Saturn nor to Mercury, Keep we must, if keep we can, These foreign laws of God and man.

A. E. Housman 1859–1936

The Laws of God, the Laws of Man 1. Write a paragraph concerning the subject matter of this poem The subject matter of The Laws of God, the Laws of man co-exist harmoniously but yet are synonymous. 2. Write a paragraph concerning the subject matter of this poem The subject matter of this poem concerns a utopian society where the laws of god and man are exactly the same. He imagines this world, and then contrasts this to his current world of Victorian England, to show the incongruity between the two worlds. He concludes by saying that although a utopia may not be possible, some people still keep in mind the “foreign laws of god and man”, indicating that we can still try to maximize good in this world. 3. Provide a ‘description’ of the poetic persona The poetic persona describes himself as one of the “men” who despairs at the fact that we have inherent limitations as human beings. 4. How would you describe the ‘tone’ of the poem? (ensure you understand what ‘tone’ means) The tone of the poem is embittered as the poet depicts a utopia where there is a clear distinction of right and wrong. However they aren’t being forced to conform and that everyone has individual rights. 5. Housman was a contemporary of H. G. Wells. Knowing what you do about the socio-cultural milieu of late Victorian and Georgian England (up to the beginning of WWI), how would you interpret the theme of Housman’s poem? The theme of Housman’s poem is about the limitations of men and that we don’t have mastery over our world to create a utopia. In the social and cultural mileu of Victorian England and the industrial revolution, man was starting to believe that we could accomplish anything. Housman brings us back to earth with the quote, “I a stranger and afraid, in a world I never made” 6. How would you describe the style / language of the poem and how does it influence the reader’s opinion of the subject matter? 7. Describe a poetic / language technique used by the poet in, ‘The Laws of God, The Laws of Man’ 8. Provide an example of symbolism and what it suggests

9. Why does the poetic persona describe the laws as “foreign”? The poet describes the laws as foreign as they are foreign to him and that the laws appear synonymous but yet to him are starkly contrasting. 10. Explain the resolution reached in the final rhyming couplet 11. ‘Existentialism’ is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th and 20 th century

philosophers.

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‘Existentialism’ and explain how it may or may not be relevant to the theme of Housman’s poem. Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as free and responsible agents determining their own development through acts of the will. 12. Describe the structure of the poem and what is the effect of its rhythmic quality? 13. This poem represents a picture of the world (as it was then) seen through the eyes of an individual. How would you present the same theme in your world (as it is today) by comparison?