• DR. JOHNSON AND A. E. HOUSMAN [To the Editor
of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As is well known, in 178o Dr. Johnson sent to Mrs. Piozzi an original poem of seven stanzas, a bitter and satirical congratulation on the coming of age in that year of Sir John Lade. This did not appear in the first or second editions of Boswell's Life of Johnson, but it did appear in the third, where we also learn that Johnson on his deathbed, less than two weeks before he died, repeated it aloud "with great spirit?! (L. F. Powell's edition of Hill's edition of Boswell's -Life of Johnson, Volume IV, pp. 411, 12., 13.) : I wonder if anyone has noticed that some of the verses in A Shropshire Lad have, both in manner and matter, a curious resemblance to this poem. It would be ridiculous, to suggest
that Housman, one of the most original of all poets, in any way imitated Johnson ; either the resemblance is pure coincidence or unconsciously a faint echo from his reading.
Of the seven stanzas, here are the first, the fifth and the last
" Long-expected one-and-twenty,' Ling'ring year, at length is flown ;
Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty, Great [Sir John] are now your own.
Wealth, my lad, was made to wander, Let it wander as it will ; Call the jockey, call the pander, Bid them come and take their fill.
Should the guardian, friend or mother Tell the woes of wilful waste ;
Scorn their counsel, scorn their pother,—
You can hang or drown at last."
Previous page
