Remastered
Remastered reimagines classic and contemporary Oxford poetry with a delicious blend of music and visual art, made purely for pleasure. Step away from your day and enjoy a moment of the sublime. It's on the House. Remastered Vignettes 1-8 are curated by the Oxford Writers' House Podcasting Fellow, Isabel Galwey.
Remastered
Vignette Five: Shake Hands, We Shall Never Be Friends, by A.E. Housman
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Today’s poem is more sombre: “Shake Hands, We Shall Never Be Friends” by AE Housman. Like much of AE Housman’s poetry, this poem was inspired by Moses Jackson, Housman’s friend and muse; he could be described as the love of Housman’s life. “Shake Hands” was written on the occasion of Jackson’s emigration to Canada. Upon Jackson’s death in 1923, Housman wrote to a friend: “Now I can die myself: I could not have borne to leave him behind me in a world where anything might happen to him.” “Shake Hands” is read by John Goold.