A. E. Housman
A. E. Housman
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In this poem Housman breaks open the Narcissus myth, making the river viewer and his reflection residents of two different worlds gazing upon each other longingly. The world of images and the world of reality meet in the constant flux of the river’s light.
For another look at the Narcissus story, s...
XX
Oh fair enough are sky and plain,
But I know fairer far:
Those are as beautiful again
That in the water are;
The pools and rivers wash so clean
The trees and clouds and air,
The like on earth was never seen,
And oh that I were there.
These are the thoughts I often think
As I stand gazing down
In act upon the cressy brink
To strip and dive and drown;
But in the golden-sanded brooks
And azure meres I spy
A silly lad that longs and looks
And wishes he were I.