Poem Analysis : An Athlete Dying Young

“To an Athlete Dying Young”, by A.E. Housman, is a thought provoking elegy. The poem is about the early demise of an accomplished runner. Surely, it is sad when someone dies too soon especially when there is so much to look forward to. One may ask, “Is there an advantage of dying young?” Well, there is! In this poem, Housman shows the silver lining to dying young during the height of one’s success.

“Smart lad, to slip betimes away. From fields where glory does not stay.” These are lines from a poem To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman. Mr. Donnelly read parts of this poem in Mike Costello’s memorial ceremony. In the novel Tangerine, by Edward Bloor. This book is about the main character, Paul and his family moving to Tangerine, Florida. There, Paul and his new friends try to find out the truth about Paul's eyesight and the truth about his brother, Erik. In the novel Tangerine, the author, Edward Bloor, interestingly uses figurative language and flashback to uncover the theme of this story: the value of the truth.

Baseball Dirt in the air, swirling Like a funnel cloud Cracks Everywhere Off the Bat they go Soaring slow Catching flight Flying high, like an airplane Hearing, the crack of the bat Seeing, it lifting up and taking flight

The strength less dead are the athletes whose “name died before the man”(20). Housman emphasizes through the imagery that it is better to do while one is still remembered since the glory will stay with him and not fade away. “To An Athlete Dying Young” glorifies the athlete through the use of imagery while “Ex-Basketball Player” uses it to emphasize the athlete’s fading glory.

Lastly, why do I agree with Housman that aging brings sadness to an athlete? Looking at Lines 16-20 of, “To an Athlete Dying Young,” we see Housman’s idea of a dying athlete. “Now you will not swell the rout of lads that wore their honors out, runners whom renown outran and the name died before the man.” This quote explains that once the athlete had many fans that adored him, but as time went by lost fans and became a normal person, not someone they looked up to. I agree with Housman on this poem with the fact of sports today. Sports today focus on the young, strong, and non-injured players to bring in wins not losses. As an athlete ages we see that their fan base is changed because those fans like the young athletes more now than they like the older athlete. Even with this happening in sports teams today, we have to see these athletes are still considerably young with ages in the thirties, forties, and fifties. That is 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 glory is to die when at the peak of their careers. One might criticize him for having such a pessimistic view of life, but we must realize that we are among many people who give those athletes the feeling of disgrace as they are no

The poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman is not just about the death of an athlete, but remembering the great accomplishments of the person after they are gone. This poem is a symbolic poem and is for the people to know that it is sad when a child passes, his name will still live on in all that is done throughout the small town in which he resided. The author uses the young athlete as a symbol of the fame and fortune that the town will receive after his passing.

Housman utilizes the elegiac form to illustrate death as a triumph over the pain of an athlete’s fading glory, and he develops this idea by using images of victory and death. He first depicts death as a doorway, and as the athlete passes through, he “hold[s] to [its] low lintel up/ The still-defended challenge cup” (Housman 23-24). In lifting his trophy at the door of death, the athlete becomes an image of everlasting triumph, as there is no longer the possibility of his defeat. The depiction of death as a threshold also suggests that it is merely a passage from one stage of life to another, diminishing death’s finality. Housman then calls the athlete a “[s]mart lad, to slip betimes away” (Housman 9), for “ . . . early though the laurel grows/

“To an Athlete Dying Young” is a a poem about an athlete dying suddenly during the height of his career. It’s about how athletes themselves come for the funeral of the fallen athlete. Honestly this poem doesn’t really do anything to me. I don’t feel sad or anything when I read this poem. Some people can get this crazy reaction, where it makes them think of their deceased grandpa, who died ten years ago. Some may think of their mental illness such as depression or bipolar, which I myself have both of these, but I just don’t see how.

Therefore, the athlete is able to retain the public’s respect when he died young, before his glory ended. In contrast, according to the writer of the essay “To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman”, the poet attempted to personify death to express his message. Personification is the projection of human characteristics onto something that is not human. “Personification can be seen in the lines ‘Eyes the shady night has shut’ and ‘After earth as stopped the ears’ (To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman, para. 5). These two lines provide the reader with the idea that death is a natural

It is known for a fact that the clutches of death are inescapable and permanent, however death may sometimes fall short when it comes to the life of an idea or memory as these can live on forever. In A. E. Housman’s poem “To an Athlete Dying Young”, it is the memory of a brilliant athlete that will be lauded for many generations to come. A. E. Housman achieves the somber and reverent memory of the young athlete, who had met their untimely demise, by the use of strong characterization, poetic devices, and themes.

So many young athlete’s keep on their mind the fame, fortune, victories, and championships that come with being a good athlete. Some young athletes take hold of the feeling of being invincible and feel like they are on top of the world. Some people wonder what it would take to get this young athlete off this feeling and come down to reality. The answer is quite simple and unforgettable. The answer is death. Death comes to everyone, even if you are a state champion, star track runner, or captain of the soccer team. Death does not care about your list of accomplishments. When death calls, how will everyone remember you? In the poem To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman, the idea of dying young as an athlete is better than having to

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas describes how men feel when approaching death. The readers are encouraged to approach death with hesitation because you can offer a lot more to this world if you have the determination to live longer. Thomas use of literary devices emphasize this idea and gives examples of how men approach death.

In the poem To an Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman, seems to have a conflict with popular view of life. Human believed that even through struggles, triumphs, pain and suffering every person should live their life until old age and death claims us. On the other hand, Housman put a different lens by say that dying young is better because a person won’t experience downfalls when fame and glory no longer smile on the child.

People would not want to hear that their loved ones merely gave up and died passively. This poem in itself is a celebration of life, the poem is not only about death but it is an affirmation of life. To further emphasise the points being made Dylan Thomas utilises a wide range of literary devices. Parallelism is used from lines seven to fifteen to juxtapose the different attitudes of the so called “genres” of men at their death. This is used to outline that if you continuously lead one set type of lifestyle whether it is as a “wild man”, a “grave man” or a “good man” you will not be satisfied when your time comes to die. The only true way to be satisfied is to live a life of balance; only with a good contrast can you be at peace.