Who was the narrator of A E Housman's famous collection of poems A Shropshire Lad?

The narrator of A E Housman's famous collection of poems A Shropshire Lad was actually the author himself, however he frequently makes references to other characters. A Shropshire Lad is a collection of sixty-three poems published in 1996 by an English poet, but had initially been turned down several times by publishers.