To An Athlete Dying Young Poem Summary

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

A quote that goes along to the novel Crazy Horse Electric Game by Chris Crutcher is “The road to athletic greatness is not marked by perfection but the ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure”. This quote connects to the main character Willie because at the beginning of the novel he was a great athlete that was going to make history. Then one day his life turned upside down when he was skiing behind a boat and the ski came up and knocked Willie out. Willie was in a coma and when he finally awoke he was a different Willie. I feel as if Willie had no idea what was in store for him next.

By contrasting a player’s ardent exuberance for basketball with his xxx disappointment in the poem “American Hero,” Essex Hemphill reveals the athlete’s conflict between his enthusiasm for the game and his resentment toward his superficial fans. For instance, the author emphasizes the player’s fervent frame of mind, “[having] nothing to lose... / I let the tension go. / Shoot for the net. / I slam it through...” (Hemphill 1, 8-9, 11-12). Hemphill illustrates the competitor’s energetic passion for basketball by describing his game-winning skills and slick athleticism. In contrast, the poet depicts the player’s resentfulness toward the cheering mass as he muses “I scored / thirty-two points this game / and they love me for it” (13-15). Despite

This can be seen all through the practices, competition trials, and Olympic races in which George Pocock’s words ring true every time. It is during the final Olympic race in which the boys realized, “that they needed to do what was impossible, to go even higher. Somewhere, deep down inside, each of the grades at shreds of will and strength they did not know they possessed,” (Brown, 350). Giving the reader a look at how these men have to put aside everything and focus on pushing themselves through the hardest race of their lives, shows the hopes and dreams that they all share to gain what others thought might be

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.

I did not realize how much of an impact little injuries would have to my competitive drive. These incidents not only affected me physically, I strove to plow through the pain and mount the summit. Winning taught me what hard work can

Athletes go through the good times and the bad times throughout their years. It makes you wonder how some of the athletes we see today are so great at what they can accomplish during a game, event, career, and so on. Are the best of the best athletes that everyone knows about or hears about doing some sort of a pedestal? Are they choosing to take them? Or are they encouraged by the people? William Moller effectively uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos to support his argument that, “We, the public, place the best athletes on pedestals, gods on high.”

Our society has shifted its beliefs in how we should treat competition in young people. The concept that "everyone receives a trophy" has taken the place of only rewarding those who achieve excellence within that activity. Rewarding all participants in youth activities and sports has become standard practice in American culture. "Should kids get a trophy for participation?" or should only the achievers receive a trophy? In the following essay it will explore the idea that everyone should win from participating and get an achievement for being there.

I think the theme is somewhat in the relation of “always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart” because the author has a persuasive tone and wants the audience to understand that athletes work so hard as seen in the quote “the whole-hearted effort that is seen on the ball field every afternoon”. Lee wants the audience to understand and be receptive of the accomplishment and drive these athletes go through when they are on the

Furthermore, achievements are the fuel that powers others to push themselves and set goals. It is the never ending desire to improve. Louie Zamperini spent his whole life training to be a better runner. In other words, the fastest olympic runner in the world. But what is left of someone who has been striped of everything they know and love? In Louie's eyes, the answer is nothing. When he went to war he aspired to show his dedication to his country, although he could have never predicted the outcome that he would soon receive. Throughout Louie’s journey of war, he was deprived of food, dehydrated and constantly abused and tormented. The list is never ending. Louie might had cheated death hand full of times, but when he looked at his body all “he thought, is a dead body breathing” (Hillenbrand 182). He was ashamed of what his body had become, and in a way he had lost his greatest achievement. “Legs that had sprung through a 4;12 mile over bright sande on that last morning on Kualoa were now useless” (Hillenbrand 182). In this moment Louie felt defeated the most, although his journey did not stop there. It gave him motivation. In the poem the narrator says the phrase “watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools” (Kipling 15-16). To sum it up, it means that if you can use other peoples’ mistakes or wrong doings to

However, when we talk about youth sports, our main concern is with providing players with a positive, character building experience. Winning is not the only acceptable outcome for youth players, and coaches need to understand this principle. “With a winning philosophy young athletes may lose out on opportunities to develop their skills, to enjoy participation, and to grow socially and emotionally. Well informed coaches realize that success is not equivalent to winning games, and failure is not the same as losing.” (Enhancing Coach-Parent Relationships in Youth Sports, 15)

“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 consequences of living after one's glory has faded. Where Houseman glorifies the athlete for his achievements and early death, Updike portrays the disappointment of the athlete living past his days of glory and not reaching high

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

In the beginning of the story, Lupe, also the protagonist, wants to be good at sports but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't do any sports. She never gave up because she finally found a sport she could play, marbles. In the middle of the story, Lupe practiced and practiced working hard to accomplish her goal, to win the marbles championship. At the end of the story, Lupes hard work pays off. She actually wins the marbles championship. It made her feel so good about herself and she was finally good at, at least one sport. She was glad that she never gave up and took the hard work and time to win the marbles championship. The lesson in this story is clear, too: if you take the time to work towards your goal you might just achieve

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 will not have to go through the pain of watching their fame disappear or whither out with time. In this poetic masterpiece, Housman pulls together figurative language, sound devices, and structure to illustrate that glory is fleeting through a