The Carpenter's Son
A.E.Housman
1859 to 1936
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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"Make some day a decent end,
Gallows-trees for other chaps,
Fare you well, for ill fare I:
All the same's the luck we prove,
So 'tis come from ill to worse."
Never dangled on my own,
Two poor fellows hang for theft:
Walk henceforth in other ways;
"Here hang I, and right and left
"Oh, at home had I but stayed
Now the best of friends must part.
I had not been lost, my lads."
Live, lads, and I will die."
Had I but left ill alone."
Live, lads, and I will die."
"Here the hangman stops his cart:
Shrewder fellows than your friend.
Stop to shake their fists and curse;
Comrades all, leave ill alone."
Had I stuck to plane and adze,
"Comrades all, that stand and gaze,
Though the midmost hangs for love."
And the people passing by
'Prenticed to my father's trade,
Fare you well, for ill fare I:
"Then I might have built perhaps
"Now, you see, they hang me high,
See my neck and save your own: