For example the poem started by the dead man asking is the horse that he used to plow with still alive and doing well, then the author replies by saving nothing changed the only thing that changed was that he is now buried on the same land he used to plow. Housman’s poem, “Is My Team Ploughing?”, apply the two questions central to any inquiry of poetry: 1) Who is the speaker and what is the occasion? Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie under. At first, the conversation between the two friends is basically small talk. Allegretto (D minor, 24 bars) Bredon Hill. In line 31, he writes, “I cheer a dead man’s sweetheart,” this shows that the farmer has moved on, too. Another question on English. Here the first four lines of the poem explain a say of a dead man talking to his friend who is alive. One is maybe the living friend feels happy that he is the one alive and his friend is the one who has passed away because he is still able to play football and enjoy all the things that his now dead friend can not do. In turn his friend said him that she is fine and busy with her live. The dead person speaks the odd numbered quatrains asking a series of four questions about how life is continuing in his absence. Get an answer for 'In "Is My Team Ploughing" by A.E.Housman, what is meant by "whose" in line 32?' The particular occasion could be that it is either the death anniversary of the speaker or his friend simply wanted to visit his grave. The words “goal” and “keeper”, which modern readers readily relate to sports, are employed by Housman as terms associated with domestic life. The plough’s effectiveness as a double entendre also serves to further emasculate the dead friend. We don’t think about how anything can happen at any moment. The original lyrics in English. If the latter, it implies that the one who conversing with the speaker is his closest companion and not just a mere acquaintance. Is my team ploughing where I once used to lead? “Is My Team Ploughing” by A.E. "Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive And hear the harness jingle When I was man alive?" The speaker refers to moments from his life and he seems to be asking if matters in the living world have changed since he had passed. ‘Is My Team Ploughing’ was performed ten months before the complete cycle in a version for voice and piano, perhaps suggesting that the instrumentation of string quartet and piano was decided after this performance. Housman is a dialogue between two old friends, one of whom who has recently passed away. The poem consists questions the dead man is asking his alive friend, the speaker, topics relating to what he cares about and was involved with when he was alive; such as work, sports, and love. Even after one dies it is very insulting that a traitorous friend could continue to lie so nonchalantly. When I was man alive?” Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie under. ay, the horses trample, the harness jingles now; no change though you lie under the land you use to plough. It is a conversation between a dead man and his still living friend. The poem “Is My Team Ploughing” by A.E. A.E. As I read this poem, I was able to picture things in my head. Is my team ploughing (Housman, set by (George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, Alfred Redgrave Cripps, Ivor Gurney, Charles Wilfred Orr, Ned Rorem, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ramsden Williamson)) (The LiederNet Archive: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music) Is my team ploughing He wants to know what is happening amongst the living world. "Is my team ploughing" has been Explained below: The author of the poem "Is my team ploughing" is written by A. E. Housman. “Is My Team Ploughing” is one of the better-known poems from A Shropshire Lad, an 1896 collection by A (lfred) E (dward) Housman (1859-1936). And hear the harness jingle. I lie as lads would choose; To become weak and lose vitality as a result of grief or longing But consider that pine is one wood traditionally used in the manufacture of coffins . The ploughing may seem to be alluding to the strenuous part of human nature that works hard. Top Commentary. Those without quotation marks are responses from the friend. Overall, it is a realistic poem with an important lesson of the way the world works. The poem through its questions and answers took the form of a dialogue between the dead man and his friend (the poem speak). “Is football playing. I got the feeling he regretted some things. A.E. yet the friend who is on to his life now answering his dead friend in positively and satisfying him as thing has been not changed. The poem through its questions and answers took the form of a dialogue between the dead man and his friend (the poem speak). At first glance, his guarantees come off as confident and reassuring; equilibrium has apparently been maintained. How Love Came In 8. We do not really see why this man is talking to his friend, may it be because he was one of his best friends or possibly because he feels shameful that he is taking over for this man who died. Housman abruptly ends the poem here, leaving no opportunity for the dead friend to voice, what must be, his intense opposition to this pseudo-levirate coupling. Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie … Obviously the dead man has figured out what has happened since he has left the world and now that the truth has unfolded there is nothing more to say and now he is rolling over in his grave. A. E. Housman‘s Is My Team Ploughing is a poetic dialogue between the spirit of a recently deceased man and a close friend who is living. In ‘Is My Team Ploughing?’ the long held notes enable the voice to sing in free time, in the manner of a recitative. Is My Team Ploughing BY A. E. HOUSMAN “Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive And hear the harness jingle When I was man alive?” Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie under The land you used to plough. what is an example of a paradox? “Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive And hear the harness jingle When I was man alive?” Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie under The land you used to plough. Alfred Edward Housman “Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive. ‘Bredon Hill’ … Or it could be the other way, that when we leave some place or some one do not assume that things are in the same way as they were. “Is my team ploughing that I was used to drive and hear the harness jingle when I was man alive”. It seems to be hinting that the speaker is romantically involved with his dead friend’s “girl”. [sung text checked 1 time] by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "Is my team ploughing" [baritone and piano] [sung text not yet checked against a primary source] Discuss. The dead man wants to know if it is still being played even though he himself can no longer stand and watch/play. (It is soccer, not football because in line 11, ‘with lads to chase the leather’, the ball is described as a leather ball which is a soccer ball, not a football. This could also be the poet’s way of not only showing the difference between life and death but also in emphasizing the theme of the poem that life goes on. As he looks on to his past it could seem that the speaker is trying to find out if his life was significant or if his life made an impact once he is gone. He notes that games of football still occur, farm duties are diligently attended to, and that the man’s widow, deprived as she may be, sleeps soundly at night. “Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive. Housman. Housman uses imagery throughout the poem to help the reader visualize and get a better understanding of what the dead man’s life was like before and after he died. But, upon reading the final lines, “Yes, lad, I lie easy, To long for somebody or something, especially somebody or something unattainable 2. Is My Team Ploughing was composed by Housman, Alfred Edward. More over a dead men who was in love with his girlfriend and never wanted to leave her. The author also fails to tell the dead man that he is now sleeping with his sweetheart that he left behind. That I thought hard to leave, He inherited the dead man’s business and took over the care of his girlfriend. In Youth Is Pleasure 5. He will not rest easy until he is able to show his feelings. Download and print in PDF or MIDI free sheet music for 6 Songs From A Shropshire Lad by George Butterworth arranged by markpearse for Piano, Oboe (Solo) This seems as though it is a jab at the dead man, a hint that the dead man’s friend is now caring for his girl. However a girlfriend whom a dead man loved is no longer a single because she is with dead man’s best friend. Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie under The land you used to plough. However, "Is My Team Ploughing" is brilliant but exceptional - he didn't have a whole lot to say. They talk about farm work and sports. “Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive And hear the harness jingle When I was man alive?” Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie under The land you used to plough. Which leads into the next point, the speaker is writing this poem, because he is making a point that everyone has to move on, eventually. Is my team ploughing ... ? I believe this is the man asking about how his friends with have been since he passed away. arranged by AltonTowersOperator for Piano, Vocals (Piano-Voice) The melodious note arrangement of Is My Team Ploughing ranges from pianissimo (very soft) mellow notes to forte (loud) notes carrying the player and the audience through an array of vivid emotions. Answer. The deceased and – I dare say – Housman’s readers, are left feeling betrayed and pessimistic about friendship, loyalty, and life’s impending conclusion. He did so in his young age leading up until his death, he was a farmer. “Is my girl happy, That I thought hard to leave, And has she tired of weeping. There seems to be some harsh attitude towards how a friend can easily betray us and feed us lies. In the poem a dead man is a young fellow and speaking to his friend, and asking about things they used to do it together. This could be seen as the speaker says at the beginning of the poem ”…When I was man alive”. The next two stanzas show that she has moved on a bit and that there is even a possibility that she moved on to one of his friends. The friend whom he is addressing responds in the next few lines that all is well with his horses, they make as much noise as they always did. The speaker of the poem is a young man who is dead, and the occasion is the cemetery. Then he finally moves on to ask about his friend and see how he is. A Shropshire Lad 1: From Clee to heaven the beacon burns. George Butterworth (1885-1916) was one of a number of promising young composers who were killed during the First World War (the most local one is Ernest Farrar, who was born in Micklefield, to the east of Leeds). Is My Team Ploughing? There doesn’t seem to be any deep meaning to these few lines. I’m not sure what that was alluding to but it may seem to reference the playful youth of human nature. Question: In A. E. Housman's "Is My Team Ploughing?" And hear the harness jingle. It seems that the first speaker who has died is questioning his friend and his motives based upon the replies he receives. That reaction will depend on how literally one takes the conversation. “is my team ploughing that i use to drive and hear the harness jingle when i was man alive? “Is My Team Plowing” takes the form of a discourse between two purported friends. The land you used to plough. Then his friend answers pretty much yes but with no change with the second stanza. by mistake a man who is dead believing all the false answers his cheater friend is telling him. When I was man alive?”. A Shropshire Lad 19: The time you won your town the race. The occasion is everyday when he checks up on his life that he left behind. Few among the ways a dialogue of this nature can happen are through imagination, vision or dream. The land you used to plough. "Is football playing Along the river shore, With lads to chase the leather, Now I stand up no more?" Answer: The whole poem is an extended paradox. It could be inferred that the speaker is talking to somebody who is still living as the poem is written as a dialogue. XXVII Is My Team Ploughing? When the speaker asked if people still play football he says he is asking, “Now I stand no more” the living person responds yes and the stanza ends “The goal keeper stands up, the keeper Stands up to keep the goal”. In the poem “Is My Team Ploughing by A.E. It leaves us with the impression that they must have a strong bond between them. And hear the harness jingle. Answers: 3 Show answers. This tells us that when the man was alive he was a farmer, and more so then that I believe the man is actually asking not only about the horses but about who ever he ran the farm with him. English, 21.06.2019 17:30. In the third and fourth stanza, the dead man asks his friend if the game of football is still being played by the other boys, now that he can’t “stand up no more” to which his friend replies by telling him that the game still goes on and that “the lads play heart and soul;” those lines indicate that the dead man feels sad and in a way powerlessness to be lying dead while the boys are more energetic and fit than ever, in other words, they seem to have put the dead man’s memories behind them and moved on with their lives that were once shared with him. "Is my team ploughing" has been Explained below: The author of the poem "Is my team ploughing" is written by A. E. Housman. I believe there is a clear and defined speaker who is speaking to a particular audience with a particular occasion in mind. Let The Florid Music Praise! Poetry analysis: Is My Team Ploughing, by A. E. Housman A. E. Housman‘s Is My Team Ploughing is a poetic dialogue between the spirit of a recently deceased man and a close friend who is living. [AE Housman A Shropshire Lad] This paper describes the experiences of the writer during a two­ year secondment to the Library and Information Service of Western Australia as a team leader in the IS Battye Library of West Australian History. Answers: 3 Show answers . A. E. Housman’s Is My Team Ploughing is a poetic dialogue between the spirit of a recently deceased man and a close friend who is living. Is deceased however, I believe he is not in quotations andante sostenuto ma non troppo lento D... 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