Housman’s Poem, To an Athlete Dying Young Essay

Harsh coaching of young athletes can often steer kids away from sports altogether, but if the coaches get it right, the kids learn important skills for their futures. At a young age, children need discipline in order to put them in the right direction for their futures. This discipline is found in numerous forms, and one of the most common forms is through sports. As David Brooks, author of the article “Organized Sports Can Benefit Children”, says, “The best coaches still live by a code, and they…

An Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Houseman and “Crossing The Bar” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson are poems that very similar to each other yet so different. “To An Athlete Dying Young” is about an athlete who dies young and Houseman congratulates him because people will remember him forever. “Crossing the Bar” is about Tennyson realizing that he is about to die and he accepts his fate. Both poems have a similar theme of death. Both authors make clever uses of symbols such as, in “To An Athlete Dying Young…

Being an athlete myself, I understanding this idea of being on top of the world and never wanting to come down. In this A.E. Housman poem this theme is taken to its full extent. Never coming down and losing your fame is death in “To an Athlete Dying Young”. Not ever letting anyone forget who the true champion is and now was. The main theme of this poem is that champions can not be champions forever unless they die a champion. In today’s world, champions are praised for winning. They could be an…

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…

Everyone wants to be a champion. Many people have the dream of becoming a college athlete and going down in history. With the many controversies in athletics today it is getting harder to fulfill this dream. One of the main controversies is college athletes becoming employees of the college. There are many reasons why athletes should not be employees. College athletes should not be considered employees of the college it will send a bad message to younger generations, cause contract disagreements…

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…

“To an Athlete Dying Young” begins with a very familiar image of victory, which is very easy for most readers to visualize because the image of victory has been seen by many people. Nearing the end of the poem, however, the poem’s image becomes less familiar or a bit ambiguous because it is unexpected. Housman believes dying young after achieving greatness or fame is the way to live, and the poem’s speaker attempts to convey the message of dying young to the runner ( ). The poem’s protagonist (the…

Sydney Walcher Instructor, Lisa Ward English 1213 8 April 2013 To an Athlete Dying Young A.E. Housman was a poet born in 1859 who became very successful during his lifetime. “To an Athlete Dying Young” represents the theme of glory is fleeting by illustrating the point that if a successful athlete dies young, they will not have to worry about their glory of victory fading. They can rest in peace knowing they will be remembered at their athletic peak when they were successful and victorious. They…

Housman 's "To An Athlete Dying Young" A. E. Housman 's "To an Athlete Dying Young," also known as Lyric XIX in A Shropshire Lad, holds as its main theme the premature death of a young athlete as told from the point of view of a friend serving as pall bearer. The poem reveals the concept that those dying at the peak of their glory or youth are really quite lucky. The first few readings of "To an Athlete Dying Young" provides the reader with an understanding of Housman 's view of death. Additional…

support for children from a young age (Wuerth, Lee, & Alfermann, 2004). That role extends to sport and physical activity. Sport not only allows children to become physically active but it also helps children advance socially and mentally. The relationships that children make from sport are often some of their longest lasting friendships and the strategic and competitive aspects of sport push the mental capacity of young athletes. Since most sports are picked up at a young age, parents play a vital…