There, by the starlit fences The wanderer halts and hears My soul that lingers sighing About the glimmering weirs.
A. E. HousmanRead
June suns, you cannot store them To warm the winter's cold, The lad that hopes for heaven Shall fill his mouth with mould.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the transient nature of joy and the futility of trying to retain happiness for future times.
A. E. Housman's quote captures the ephemeral quality of summer joys and the futility of trying to hold onto them for future comfort. It suggests that while the beauty and warmth of summer cannot be stored for the coldness of winter, one should not place hope in the distant rewards of life without acknowledging the reality of the present—implying that dreams of heaven might ultimately lead to disappointment if one neglects the inevitable hardships of life.
Themes
TransienceHappinessHopeLifeReality
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a graduation speech to remind students to appreciate the present moment.
More from A. E. Housman
All quotes →Who made the world I cannot tell; 'Tis made, and here am I in hell. My hand, though now my knuckles bleed, I never soiled with such a deed.
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I am not a pessimist but a pejorist (as George Eliot said she was not an optimist but a meliorist); and that philosophy is founded on my observation of the world, not on anything so trivial and irrelevant as personal history.
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Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.
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And malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.
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Oh, 'tis jesting, dancing, drinking_x000D_ _x000D_ Spins the heavy world around.
A. E. HousmanRead
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