Thus only innocence in Brooks' poem is in relation to the likely readers. The innocent person is the naive reader, who might hope that things could be different for the students, or who thinks that the students' lives of petty criminality and sensual pleasures seem attractive, in contrast to a middle-class existence. This is not the case, advises Brooks, stressing her theme of thwarted and ignored promise with spare yet haunting poetic brushstrokes. To fully understand the meaning of the poem, and the voices of both the poet's foresight and why the speakers sound so falsely proud of their lifestyle, the reader must appreciate the social context from which Brooks is 'coming from.'

A.E. Houseman's poem is written in a far more formal style, along the lines of a traditional English lyric. The British poet takes on the voice of a young man, who was told not to give his...
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