Housman’s view of death contrasts from that of Thomas because Housman accepts that dying young can be something positive. In A.E. Housman’s poem, To an Athlete Dying Young, he writes, “Smart lad, to slip betimes away … ” Here, Housman is saying that the athlete who died was smart to do so. Glory is something that fades quickly, especially in running. People can achieve great things in athletics, and they will become a household name, until the next great athlete comes along and does something even
The Glorification of Dying Young The poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman depicts the funeral of a young champion runner, who has died at the peak of his youth and athletic career. The poem makes note of the sorrow of a young life being cut short, but also glorifies the death of the athlete for capturing the young runner in the prime of his life. Housman’s poem was written in the form of the classical lyric poem, which could be influenced by Housman’s early tutoring in Greek and Latin
To an Athlete Dying Young by Alfred Edward (A.E.) Housman is a fairly short, yet powerful poem. This poem is extremely relatable to anyone who is an athlete or knows one. The reader finds themes related to death and pride. Housman’s writing style, imagery, the context in which this was written and his views on athletes contribute to the themes of this poem. Housman’s writing style has been described as very realistic, which in return creates a pessimistic feeling. E. Christian Kopff writes that
society tries is unavoidable: dying young. However, Housman explores the idea that dying young is not always negative. In A. E. Housman’s poem, “To An Athlete Dying Young,” he addresses this very common, fear in human nature. The unescapable outcome of death, as a fear, is due to human nature, with every single person wanting to live the longest most successful life, they can, but in the end never avoiding death.. Housman, unlike the majority of people, embraces dying young in a positive
Essay: "To An Athlete Dying Young" vs. "Ex-Basketball Player" “To An Athlete Dying Young” and “Ex-Basketball Player” share the lives of two very different athletes. Both experience success in their lives, but one dies with his glory while the other lives past his days of glory and works at a gas pump where he is not recognized. The poems discuss the importance of having glory and keeping that glory as long as possible. Through the poems the readers learn the benefits of dying young as well as the
causes that have led to it. Both Dickinson and Housman explore the theme of how there's always life after death. in different ways. Dickinson explores the theme of her poem, “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by implying that there is life after death while Housman uses the theme of death by using in the poem, “To an Athlete Dying Young” in a way of saying that after death there is a new place of a home. Both the poets explore their themes through the use of various literary devices, such as, personification
inevitable and we must all accept it. If we begin to look at death in a more beautiful way and not so sinister, we can have a better understanding. In the two poems, “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by Emily Dickinson’s and “To An Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman while the theme differs, they are much alike in some ways. Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” gives me a sense of peace when it comes to death. The theme portrays death as a easy, peaceful ride when one passes
Alfred Edward Housman, or as we all know as A.E. Housman, published poems with themes such as love, death, loss and success. Many poems often contain irony where one uses language that normally signifies the opposite. As for A.E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young,” the poem presents the death of an athlete in a twisted irony of success. As a whole, people view death as a horrible ending to one’s life, and nothing could be worse than having one’s life cut short by the hands of time. Alfred Edward
of “To an Athlete Dying Young” In his poem “To an Athlete Dying Young”, A.E. Housman makes a quite different approach on death. People have different perspectives on death, but more often than not, it is viewed as an undesirable event that people wish to avoid. The speaker in the poem, however, praises a young and famous athlete for dying before he became old and forgotten. This can be interpreted two very different ways. One can assume Housman believes that the only way for athletes to capture
The poem commences with an athlete attaining victory and triumph. His career bloomed and blossomed like a “laurel grows,” but his life “withers [away] quicker than a rose” (Housman, lines 11-12) It transitions to a “dismal” route that “all runner[’]s/ fleet f[ee]t [come to] the sill shade¨ (Housman 5,22). Every living person will eventually encounter the face of death and reach eternal rest. The athlete was “brought shoulder-high/ [and] set at [his] threshold”