By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
A. E. Housman (1859-1936) remains a popular poet with many readers not least because he so poignantly captures the feelings of heartbreak and hopeless love in his work. He is perhaps the unofficial Laureate of the Broken Heart: nobody has said it better. His short poem ‘Because I liked you better’ is about doing the noble thing and agreeing to give up chasing the one we love, because we know they can never return our love.
Because I liked you better
Than suits a man to say,
It irked you, and I promised
To throw the thought away.
To put the world between us
We parted, stiff and dry;
‘Good-bye,’ said you, ‘forget me.’
‘I will, no fear’, said I.
If here, where clover whitens