The Extended Paradox of Dead Man Speaking. Our deaths do not cause permanent disturbance in everyone’s lives. He will not rest easy until he is able to show his feelings. Just because somebody dies doesn’t mean everything in their life just stops; they have to go on with their life coping with the death, and their actions are not disturbed in the universe by death. He did so in his young age leading up until his death, he was a farmer. It’s what I interpreted but I’m sure it has much more meaning that I’m just not grasping. "Is My Team Ploughing" is a poem by A. E. Housman, published as number XXVII in his 1896 collection A Shropshire Lad. Stating that everything that is being told to the dead man seems to be a lie, that he’s only saying what he wants to hear in order for him to rest easy. They talk about farm work and sports. The reason why this farmer is writing this poem is because he is curious. Is it possible that the dead already knows the answer to that question? Situational Irony in A.E. I’m not sure what that was alluding to but it may seem to reference the playful youth of human nature. However, the friend assures the dead man that the sweetheart is well satisfied, and as she lies down in bed at night, she is not pining nor shedding tears. He inherited the dead man’s business and took over the care of his girlfriend. 27 in Housman’s collection, is ‘Is My Team Ploughing,’ a dialogue between a dead man and his friend who is still alive. With the departure of a husband, who was a keeper in his own right, his home, his farm, and his wife – his “goal” – have been left without a guard. After each question his friend answers him. In the last stanza we find out that she actually has moved on to sleeping with the friend whom he is talking to. This is seen by the fact that the speaker claims he can “lie easy” as he “cheers a dead man’s sweetheart”, but he refuses to admit whose “sweetheart” it is. The poem is very cynical as the discussion points mention because the first speaker is constantly worried about the events of the land of the living. The poem “Is My Team Ploughing” by A.E. At first, the conversation between the two friends is basically small talk. This turning point reveals that the friend may not be such a good friend to the dead man as it might have seemed; the living friend knows too much about the sweetheart and has revealed to the dead man more than the poor fool would have wanted to know. Such as play football, had friends, had horses, and a beautiful girlfriend. Housman's "Is My Team Ploughing"? Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. and 2) What is the central purpose of the poem? The sixth stanza is riddled with double entendre, seeing that his girl “lies not down to weep” and is “well contented” despite the fact that her lover is dead. There seems to be some harsh attitude towards how a friend can easily betray us and feed us lies. The dead man's questions seem to elicit responses that unveil the treachery of his so-called living friend. “Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive And hear the harness jingle When I was man alive?”. I think he understands the importance of moving on. In the fifth stanza, the dead friend asks the speaker about how his “girl” is doing and in the sixth stanza we get the speakers reply. Instead, he tells him the truth and wishes for his rest. Housman’s poem, “Is My Team Ploughing?”, is constructed as a conversation between the speaker and his living friend. It depends, like any poem, on your interpretation. The answer is that the living man is being tormented with guilt at the way he treated the dead man while the latter was living, and now that his so-called friend is dead, he is committing the ultimate sin against their friendship by taking his place with the dead man’s sweetheart. The very title of the poem reveals this theme, referring to an important part of rural farming, 'ploughing.' Ay the ball is flying, The lads play heart and soul; The goal stands up, the keeper Stands up to keep the goal. The author of the poem "Is my team ploughing" is written by A.E.Housman. He notes that games of football still occur, farm duties are diligently attended to, and that the man’s widow, deprived as she may be, sleeps soundly at night. I believe the purpose of the poem is for the speaker to express a concern about human nature and who we trust. A.E. The living friend is merely attempting to assuage his own guilty conscience by holding the imaginary conversation in which he attempts to solace his former friend. Continuing he adds, "That I used to drive, / And hear the harness jingle." "Is football playing Along the river shore, "With lads to chase the leather, He also used imagery in his poetry which was most effective. The team he was talking about was his horses. The poem "Is My Team Ploughing" touched the following aspects of human lives which are friendship, career, leisure, and love. Housman’s “Is My Team Ploughing” is poem via dialogue between a dead man and his friend. In turn his friend said him that she is fine and busy with her live. The person who is dead is asking questions about life, now that he is not present. In the stanza with lines 25-28, he mentions his curiosity if his friend is at least doing better then he is. As one example of the deceased questioning the living he asks if children are still playing football. '” A.E. Therefore he puts the question to his friend: "Is my team ploughing?" His tone is urgent, anxious, and filled with a genuine consideration for the people, places, and activities that once comprised his life. The eight stanzas are sectioned into question and response, similar to an interview, with the dead man beginning with a question. 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