sound the note of resigned wisdom with quiet poignancy

[sb70012]

The wryly ironic tone sometimes degenerates into melodrama, and the stoicism seems at time histrionic, but at his best Housman’s control of cadence enabled him to sound the note of resigned wisdom with quiet poignancy. He avoids self-pity by projecting the emotion through an imagined character, notably the “Shropshire lad,” So that even the first-person poems seem to be distanced in some degree. At the same time the poems are distinguished sharply from the “gather ye rosebuds” tradition by the undertones of fatalism and even of doom.

Source: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, A. E. Housman (1859-1936)

Hello teachers,

What does the blue written sentence mean?
I know the meanings word by word but totally I can’t understand it. Specially (resigned wisdom)

Would you please clarify the blue part to me?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[FreeToyInside]

The wryly ironic tone sometimes degenerates into melodrama, and the stoicism seems at time histrionic, but at his best Housman’s control of cadence enabled him to sound the note of resigned wisdom with quiet poignancy. He avoids self-pity by projecting the emotion through an imagined character, notably the “Shropshire lad,” So that even the first-person poems seem to be distanced in some degree. At the same time the poems are distinguished sharply from the “gather ye rosebuds” tradition by the undertones of fatalism and even of doom.

Source: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, A. E. Housman (1859-1936)

Hello teachers,

What does the blue written sentence mean?
I know the meaning[STRIKE]s word by word[/STRIKE] of each word but [STRIKE]totally [/STRIKE]I can’t understand it as a whole, especially "resigned wisdom."

Would you please clarify the blue part to me?

Many thanks in advance.

The phrase highlighted in blue is contrasted with the first part of the sentence, which says the writer's tone can sometimes become dramatic in a bad way, and when his tone should be lacking noticeable or overt emotion (stoicism), he actually can be overly dramatic (histrionic). The blue part is contrasting what has just been said, saying that the best parts of his writing display a sense of wisdom that's evident and accepted without question (resigned wisdom) without relying on a style that's overtly dramatic, and he can elicit strong emotions in a subtle way (with quiet poignancy).

Hope this helps!

(not a teacher, just a language lover)

 

[JMurray]

not a teacher

"resigned wisdom": I'm not very familiar with Housman's writing, but I'd like to propose a slightly different interpretation of this phrase.
The writer's "stoicism" is already alluded to and may be a clue to the meaning of "resigned" here. Perhaps the point is not so much that the wisdom itself is evident and accepted, but that Housman's wisdom is of a piece with his stoicism and acceptance of things. His wisdom has a resigned, accepting character.

 

[FreeToyInside]

not a teacher

"resigned wisdom": I'm not very familiar with Housman's writing, but I'd like to propose a slightly different interpretation of this phrase.
The writer's "stoicism" is already alluded to and may be a clue to the meaning of "resigned" here. Perhaps the point is not so much that the wisdom itself is evident and accepted, but that Housman's wisdom is of a piece with his stoicism and acceptance of things. His wisdom has a resigned, accepting character.

I like that proposal. Honestly, when I read such texts like the above paragraph that have such a highly literary flavor and use so many 'meaty' words (for lack of a better term) strung closely together, the overall meaning tends to become very nebulous and strained for me - certainly not my kind of rainy day read!

(not a teacher, just a language lover)

 

[sb70012]

Thanks everybody.