Time for another of my favourite Housman poems, a heartfelt cry of unrequited and exploited love. I am particularly fond of the second stanza, which I was wont to quote to the women in my office when it was my turn to get the coffees again.

Lethe, of course, is one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld, the one whose waters induced forgetfulness. The others were Styx, Acheron, Cocytus and Phlegethon. The ‘one coin’ refers to the obol that was placed in the mouth of the deceased as a payment to Charon, who ferried the dead across the River Styx. Pronunciation note: it looks from the scansion as if Housman pronounced ‘coin’ as having one syllable. To me it has two, so I find I want to drop the ‘for’ after it. Still, it’s not my business to improve Housman…

Crossing alone the nighted ferry

Crossing alone the nighted ferry
With the one coin for fee,
Whom, on the wharf of Lethe waiting,
Count you to find? Not me.

The brisk fond lackey to fetch and carry,
The true sick-hearted slave
Expect him not in the just city
And free land of the grave.

A.E.Housman