Forever Young

Images of people dying young are viewed by many as one of the most tragic and inescapable fates imaginable. People aspire to live long and fruitful lives and would be quite appalled to have a premature death viewed in such a positive manner. However, in Alfred Edward Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young” the reader is given just that, an unconventional and oddly justifiable outlook at a young man dying an early death. This theme of short-lived fame during life (and even after death) is clear throughout the piece. It is necessary to be able to distinguish and understand this theme in order to comprehend the poem’s meaning. Throughout his work, Housman employs several prominent types of figurative language as well as archetype to develop his theme of fleeting glory.

The use of figurative language begins within the first stanza of Housman’s poem:

The time you won your town the race

We chaired you through the market-place;

Man and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder high. (Housman lines 1-4)

Within these lines, the speaker is having a direct dialogue with the athlete, as if he were still living. By allowing the speaker to apostrophize the deceased young man, who exemplifies fame by winning a race and therefore earning the praise and respect of the town, it appears that the speaker is thinking back on the life of the young athlete. The speaker is also giving him additional encouragement by stating that it is better to die at an early age than after one’s prime. This technique of apostrophe allows the reader to be a party to the bond between the speaker and the young deceased athlete. Another use of personification can be viewed in the lines, “Eyes the shady night has shut / canno...

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...oo often, for people that desire fortune and glory, being forgotten is a fate far worse than death. Housman instead wishes to convey though, that the most respected victory of an athlete is in his death, and the march to his grave is much greater than any one of his victories. In some ways, superstar athletes are much like the rap artists of today; they would rather go out with a bang, with a good story, than fade away into retirement.

Works Cited

A Gallery Of Archetypes: Multidisciplinary View of the Religious, Spiritual and Esoteric Phenomena. 2007. Web. 19 Feb. 2011.

Housman, A.E. “To An Athlete Dying Young.” Approaching Literature. Eds. Peter Schakel and Jack Ridl. 2nd ed. Boston: 2008. 802. Print

Weinstock, Jake. "Review of To an Athlete Dying Young, Page 3 of 4." Associated Content from Yahoo! - Associatedcontent.com. 09 Oct. 2009. Web. 09 Feb. 2011.