"Is my team plowing,
That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
When I was man alive?"
Ay, the horses trample,
The harness jingles now;
No change though you lie under
The land you used to plow.
"Is football playing
Along the river shore,
With lads to chase the leather,
Now I stand up no more?"
Ay, the ball is flying,
The lads play heart and soul;
The goal stands, Up, the keeper
Stands Up to keep the goal.
A.E. HOUSMAN
[I839-I936]
"Is my girl happy,
That I thought hard to leave,
And has she tired of weeping
As she lies down at eve?"
Ay, she lies down lightly,
She lies not down to weep:
Your girl is well contented.
Be still, my lad, and sleep.
"Is my friend hearty ,
Now I am thin and pine,
And has he found to sleep in
A better bed than mine?"
Yes, lad, I lie easy,
I lie as lads would choose;
I cheer a dead man's sweetheart,
Never ask me whose.

Kayleigh Foland
AP Literature and Composition
Period 2
9 December 2009
Explication of “Is my team plowing”
What happens after death? What will happen to the ones left behind? Will their lives ever be the same? In Housman's poem “Is my team plowing” someone is talking to a deceased friend.
The living speaker tells his dead friend what is going on after the friend's death. He makes it clear that life goes on. “Is my team plowing” uses apostrophe, imagery, and tone to show how the world continues on, even after death.
The main literary device, apostrophe, is used to show that a death has occurred. Without the use of apostrophe the theme of the continuation of the world would hardly have as much, if any, meaning. For example, “That I was used to drive/ ... /When I was man alive? (2-4)” uses the past tense, especially with the term alive in line four, to show that this man is speaking from beyond the grave. This sense of having a conversation with the dead, about what is happening, gives the poem more impact then if it was simply someone contemplating what could or might happen when they die.
Imagery is used heavily in the poem as well mostly to illustrate the ease of life even after the death of a friend or loved one. Even after dealing with the death, their lives didn't change much; the fields were still plowed and the boys still played football. Furthermore, the imagrey

Page 2 allows the poem to not even seem remotely dream-like, which gives it a greater feeling of inevitability. In stanzas two, three, and four, phrases like “horses trample, (5)” “chase the leather
(11)” and “ball is flying (13)” show the simplicity of normal life. If this was a dream they probably wouldn’t be talking about plowing and football, although it’s possible for them to be realistic most dreams tend to be more fantastical then everyday life.
Tone is used in this poem mostly to show the somewhat conflicting emotions tied into the situation of the dead checking up on the living and the living’s reaction. It easily expresses the sorrow for the loss of life and/or friend, the reassurance to the dead that all is fine, and the guilt of “cheer[ing] a dead man’s sweetheart (31).” It is fairly obvious that this sweetheart once belonged to the dead speaker; of course the poem doesn’t actually say that, however, the tone in the last line, “Never ask me whose” is soft and sounds fairly guilty and remorseful. When both lines are placed together, it gives an undeniable sense of continuation. Both the living speaker and the sweetheart have now moved on with their lives. The world continues on just as before the speaker’s death.
Life goes on. The world isn’t going to stop just for the sake of one, or even several, people. Look at history, how many people died in the world wars? How many people die ever day in today’s world, and yet the Earth keeps spinning and the survivors kept living. People can’t delude themselves into thinking the world revolves around them, because in the end, they’re just tiny specks in the greater picture. Many great and honorable people have died in the past and still many more will die in the future, however, no matter who they are, they are still just people and for the rest, life goes on!

Works Cited
Housman, A.E. "Is my team plowing." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sense, and Sound . Eds.
Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Ninth ed. Boston: Thomson Higher Education, 2006.
299-310. Print.