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Of all writers, Housman's name is the most closely associated
with South Shropshire, and in particular with the Clun Valley
and Ludlow. He was professor of Latin at Trinity College Cambridge,
but grew up in urban Bromsgrove. Nearby, but worlds apart
from the life of rural Shropshire which he idealised. Shropshire
was the western horizon of his childhood, the 'Blue Remembered
Hills', and he was inspired by the beauty of the landscape
throughout his life.
His best known work is the poem A Shropshire Lad published
in 1896. Romantically pessimistic, it was not a success at
first but gradually gained admirers during the years leading
up to the first world war. Many of the poems were set to music
by Vaughan-Williams and other composers of the time, bringing
his works to a larger, international audience.
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