Here Dead We Lie Analysis - Literary devices and Poetic devices

Here Dead We Lie

By Alfred Edward Houseman

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.

Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.

Summary of Here Dead We Lie

Popularity of “Here Dead We Lie”: The poem ‘Here Dead We Lie’ was written by Alfred Edward Houseman, a popular English writer and poet. The impressive poetic rendition expresses ideas despite its brevity. It first appeared in his collection, A Shropshire Lad, in 1896. The poem sheds light on the heroism of the young generation dying for their lands. Its popularity, however, lies in the futility of losing life during a youthful period.
“Here Dead We Lie” As a Representative of Heroism: E. The poem is written in the voice of young man who reiterates that they are dying. However, it is not their choice as they have not chosen to live to make their homeland feel ashamed. The very next stanza gives voice to their feelings that there is nothing to lose in the life of the young men. In the poet’s view, young men believe that there is something to lose in life, despite the apparent lack of anything to lose. And the poet, including his friends, used to think that they were young at that time.
Major Themes in “Here Dead We Lie”: Heroism, decisions during the youthful period, and patriotism are three major themes of the poem. The young men have no choice during their youthful period as they do not want their homeland to feel ashamed at their cowardice. They have made a decision. The decisions made during this period have their own repercussions as the thinking of young men is different during the youthful period. When life is nothing much to lose, the young men think that it is and the poet adds they were young at that time. In fact, it was patriotism that blinded them.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used In Here Dead We Lie

Literary devices are tools used by poets to beautify their poems. Alfred Edward Houseman also used some literary devices in this poem. The analysis is as follows.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /ee/ in “Here dead we lie” and the sound of /oo/ in “Is nothing much to lose”.
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound /w/ in “we were.”
Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.

Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /n/ in “But young men think it is”.
Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Alfred Edward Houseman used imagery in this poem such as “Because we did not choose”, “And we were young” or “From which we sprung.”
Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different in nature. The poet used an extended metaphor of life as thinking to be sacrificed or lost at some abstract idea.
Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poet used the symbol of life to highlight decisions of the youthful period.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Here Dead We Lie

Poetic devices are tools that the poets use to make their poems sound different in terms of structure, form, and meter. The analysis of the poetic devices used in this poem is as follows.

Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free-verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are two stanzas in this poem with each having four lines.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from “Here Dead We Lie” are suitable to quote during a motivational lecture about patriotism.