azdak

A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad. 1896.

XIII. When I was one-and-twenty


When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
‘Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;

Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.’
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
‘The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.’
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

A.E. Houseman

I can never read Houseman without thinking of Wendy Cope's poem:

I think I am in love with A.E. Houseman,
Which puts me in a worse than usual fix.
No woman ever stood a chance with Houseman
And he's been dead since 1936.

Is Sir Impey Biggs gay? The Dowager Duchess says he is "the handsomest man in England, and no woman will ever care tuppence for him" (or words to that effect), and yet he doesn't seem unhappy to be thus spurned. Moreover, he has a flamboyant theatricality about him, especially in court, and actors have traditionally tended to be Friends of Dorothy. It does seem unlikely that an extremely good-looking, rich, charismatic and successful heterosexual male should not have women trailing after him.

There are, of course, not merely one but two lesbian couples in Unnatural Death, but I can't offhand think of any gay men (unless you count Philip Boyes' irritatingly devoted friend, whose name I've forgotten). I would like to think that Sir Impey tips the balance.