To an Athlete Dying Young: Poem Analysis

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

In Jeffrey Schranks’ short story, “Sport and the American Dream”, he is trying to show us that the sport America watches and plays, portrays America’s character as a nation. Since America goes from baseball to football we it shows us that we are becoming more violent. his comparisons of sports and war is says best how America changes as a country over the years. Back when baseball was Americas’ pastime to being a totally football country. When we were a baseball country, Americans were happier, not many cared about wars or violence just the enjoyment they got from watching the games with friends or family at the ballpark. It didn’t matter that the sport wasn’t moving at a fast pace or so competitive. Football is the

Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.

“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.

A.E. Housman first message from the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” is which is better, to die at a young age when you’re still famous or dying old when everyone has forgotten you. This is a tough question because to athletes being remembered means a lot to them. Obviously they want to live a full life and experience everything they can but they also want to be remembered by their accomplishments at a young age. “Smart lad, to slip betimes away” (line 9) explains Housman opinion on this message. In the poem a young athlete who was a town 's hero died suddenly and Housman is saying that he is smart for dying at a young age. Saying that the fame is going to die before the man, so he will never have to experience about being forgotten when he got older. Saying that

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.

Many athletes are just that, athletes. The crowd cheers as they hit a home run or they make the shot. They’re known for their performance on the field and only the field. Instead of realizing the importance of their voice or their actions, they decide to suppress their own voices, choosing to bask in the glory they receive due to their performance during a game. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that all athletes fall under this category of ignorance or better yet indifference. Although a majority of them represent this group, there a handful that dedicates their time and voice to bring about change in society. Jackie Robinson was the first African American baseball player on a team’s roster. Not only did he change the sport of baseball forever, but impacted millions of African Americans and his impact continues to affect lives today.

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

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.

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

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

A.E. Housman’s poem “To an Athlete Dying Young,” is a wonderful elegy which holds its main theme as that dying at young age will preserve a person pride. The author suggests that dying at young age, when a person is at the peak of achieving his or her greatness, will save him or her from suffering the humiliations that comes along with defeats from the ever-running time. In this way, the people will always remember the person when he or she was at the peak of his or her powers. In the poem, Housman uses many literary devices such as symbols, imagery, and other writing techniques to empower his poem to deliver the message that youth, fame, and glory fades away with time.

This piece was important to me. I love the way that it describes the game. I choose it because it shows my perspective, a player. There is lots of rhyming in this poem. In every second and fourth line in each stanza rhymed. I liked the rhyming because it made me want to keep reading. It made the poem more intense and gave it better flow. The theme shows what volleyball is about. It also shows how the tensions that rise. This poem connects to my paper because it shows my perspective. Volleyball reminds me of being on the court. I could picture a game in my head, my team is serving. I am at the net, ready to sprint across. When you’re on the net and the server hits the ball, everything turns into slow motion.

A major role in my life would definitely be sports. It is almost as if I look up to sports because I could not live without them. Sports pretty much define me as me. I love to play sports as well as watch all kinds of sports on T.V. and if I could ever go to a game and watch the players play live I would be thrilled. Basically sports define me because I am ambitious, I finish what I start, I set goals for myself, and I am a fierce competitor in which I love to win and I hate to lose. The greatest part about sports to me is living for the moment when the game is on the line and the pressure is on can you come through and make a play for your

The Recurring Theme of Death in the Poetry of Philip Larkin. In reading the poetry of Philip Larkin for the first time, one is struck by the characteristically glum atmosphere that pervades most of his poems. The vast majority of his verse is devoted to what is generally taken to be negative aspects of life, such as loneliness and dejection, disappointments, loss, and the terrifying prospect of impending death. Evidently, there are uplifting and humorous sides to his work as well, but for certain reasons Larkin is invariably identified with a downhearted, pessimistic temper and tone of voice, conveying a constant sense of failure and of disappointment that underlies all the more specific emotions and reflections of individual