To An Athlete Dying Young Poem

“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.

The short story, “This Way To The Gas, Ladies And Gentlemen” by Tadeusz Borowski and the poem “On My First Son” by Ben Johnson, both deal with death. They are very different types of death and are told in different ways but through some similar approaches, a similar feeling is portrayed to the reader of each.

A. E. Housman was a well known poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Within his two most famous publications, A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems, Housman effectively uses his adept understanding of language, its usage, and style to portray the significant themes behind all of his poems. To an Athlete Dying Young is a perfect example of Housman’s ability to convey his message to the reader through his use of diction, syntax, and tone.

The poems “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas and “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman both discuss how each author views death. But, both poems have drastically different opinions upon the matter. Thomas in “Do Not Go Gentle” is full despair and hatred towards death, and is tries to convince his father not to accept death. Whereas, Housman in “To an Athlete” expresses that a young death is beautiful and glorious. That a young death shouldn’t be just seen as sad, but more as honorable.

In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” written by A.E Housman written in 18** death is viewed in a different approach. Many people look at death as an unfortunate event that is accompanied by mourning and remembrance. Housman portrays the idea from the prospective of an athlete and their glory. One may say Housman has two attitude towards death one being that in order for an athlete to die with fame and glory he must die at the peak of their career or be forgotten. And the other being the poem was simply written as an elegy praising the life of a young athlete who lived life to the fullest. Athletes strive for that glory they desire with countless hours of practice to be remembered. Regardless of the way the reader interprets “To an Athlete

Success is one of the greatest feelings in life. It is best to enjoy it while you can. “To An Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman praises the life of an accomplished runner at his funeral, and “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch praises the effort of an entire basketball team after executing a perfect play. While both poems praise accomplishments, they also share mistakes as well. Both poems use third-person speakers.

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

“Chapter Five: Figurative Language 1” Notes Concepts Figurative language is not literal. Two examples of figurative language are simile and metaphor. When a simile is used, “the comparison is expressed by the use of some word or phrase, such as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, or seems; in metaphor, the comparison is not expressed but is created when a figurative term is substituted for or identified with the literal term” (748). Example: In “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, the speaker also asks, “Does it stink like rotten meat?”

This poem is a part of Housman’s most famous volume of work called A Shropshire Lad. In these works Housman wanted the reader to think about life and the meaning of it all. In one of Housman’s most celebrated poems “To an Athlete Dying Young”, Critics dissect the themes of staying on top eternally, dying when one is a champion, and not letting the fame fade. Critic Scott-Kilvert says that Housman “voices the familiar passions of humanity with a death dealing sweetness” (Scott-Kilvert 628)

“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 runner) also shares a few similarities and dissimilarities with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. For instance, as we will shortly learn, both the runner and Dr. King did not live their full lives and passed away rather young; both accomplished great feats for their supporters; both will always be remembered positively; and both will never be forgotten. On the other hand, the runner will be remembered for a single great accomplishment, while King will be remembered collectively for his service for underrepresented groups. In addition, Dr. King’s actions have inspired and impacted others to do good and carry out his dream. Also, the runner was celebrated by his entire community, while King was celebrated by, “All right-thinking people” due to his federal holiday in the United States (President 2). The events leading up to the death of both the runner and Dr. King show that both would have continued to do good later in their lives. A.E. Housman’s theory of dying young after achieving

William Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” in his Songs of Innocence is a literary masterpiece that is still relevant and impactful in the modern world. In lovely form and description, Blake explains the atrocities and hardships of the Industrial Age in a poem suitable for school-age children and with the beautiful simplicity that only a writer like Blake could produce. The Songs of Innocence is a look into the purity and wonderful outlook on life that children usually have. While in its counterpart, the Songs of Experience, Blake uses adults as protagonist. The Songs of Experience is a look at the effects that hardships and failures have on adults, therefore having a pessimistic outlook toward life. In his these two works, Blake produces a parallel universe between childhood and adulthood where the optimism of dreams of childhood and the bitterness and stagnation of adulthood never seem to know one another.

In "To an Athlete Dying Young", A.E. Housman uses diction, emotional imagery, and symbolism to prove that glory does not last forever and that dying young is the only way to make that everlasting. The speaker is celebrating the life of this young man. He is also giving examples of why him dying so young might not be all that bad. The young man in this poem is a hero in his town, and when he dies, he dies a hero.

“Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.” A.E. Housman grew up in a small town in Worcestershire, London. His childhood ended at the age of twelfth because his mother passed away. Then he went to this University where he fell into a dark love and made him depressed. He worked really hard and got a job as a professor at the University College in London. Although he does all of his teaching and helping scholars he is most known for his poetry. His poems display deep feelings and are emotionless. His poems usually affected the reader like a shiver down the spine or a punch in the stomach. I am going to be talking about three messages from the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman.

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 lyric poetry (Holzberger 4). The poem also makes use of a four-line ballad stanza, which Housman forms into an elegy for the young runner as he reflects on the runner’s death (Holzberger 7). The use of symbols throughout the poem such as the

Both “The Chimney Sweepers” poems were written during the industrial revolution. During the industrial revolution families were living in poverty, and times were challenging. Often times for families to survive they would sell their children to master sweeps, or master sweeps would welcome orphans and homeless children into the industry of menial labour. They used children between the ages of five to ten depending on their size. Parents would often sell their children younger, because their small frames were more desirable. Even though “The Chimney Sweeper” (1789) and “The Chimney Sweeper” (1794) were written five years apart they show many similarities and differences.