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To An Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman
To An Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman
Poetic analysis of an athlete dying young
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Housman's "To An Athlete Dying Young"
A. E. Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young," also known as Lyric XIX in A
Shropshire Lad, holds as its main theme the premature death of a young athlete
as told from the point of view of a friend serving as pall bearer. The poem
reveals the concept that those dying at the peak of their glory or youth are
really quite lucky. The first few readings of "To an Athlete Dying Young"
provides the reader with an understanding of Housman's view of death.
Additional readings reveal Housman's attempt to convey the classical idea that
youth, beauty, and glory can be preserved only in death.
A line-by-line analysis helps to determine the purpose of the poem. The
first stanza of the poem tells of the athlete's triumph and his glory filled
parade through the town in which the crowd loves and cheers for him. As Bobby
Joe Leggett defines at this point, the athlete is "carried of the shoulders of
his friends after a winning race" (54). In Housman's words:
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 967).
Stanza two describes a much more somber procession. The athlete is being carried
to his grave. In Leggett's opinion, "The parallels between this procession and
the former triumph are carefully drawn" (54). The reader should see that
Housman makes another reference to "shoulders" as an allusion to connect the
first two stanzas:
Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder high we bring you home,
And set you at the threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town. (967)
In stanza three Housman describes the laurel growing "early" yet dying "quicker
than a rose." (967) This parallels "the 'smart lad' who chose to 'slip betimes
away' at the height of his fame" (Explicator 188). Leggett's implication of
this parallel is "that death, too is a victory" (54). He should consider
himself lucky that he died in his prime and will not out live his fame. Housman
says:
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears. (967)
Leggett feels that "death in the poem becomes the agent by which the process of
change is halted" (54). In the next stanza symbolism is used as the physical
world is in Leggett's terms, "The field where glories do not stay" (54). "Fame
and beauty are represented by a rose and the laurel, which are both subject to
decay," Leggett explains (54). The athlete dying is described here by Housman:
“Pass On” written by Michael Lee is a free verse poem informing readers on grief, which is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome not only when losing a loved one, but also in life itself. “Pass On” successfully developed this topic through the setting of an unknown character who explains his or her experience of grief. Despite Lee never introducing this character, readers are given enough information to know how they are overcoming this difficult obstacle. In fact, this unknown character is most likely the writer himself, indirectly explaining his moments of grief. One important piece of information Lee provides is the fact that he has experienced loss twice, one with his grandfather and the other a friend who was murdered by the
Throughout life, an individual must undergo many obstacles to reach their life's climactic point of success. Regrettably, an individual may not be able to enjoy their life's highest point of accomplishment-because they are deceased! For example, in “A Letter to His Wife, 1861”, Sullivan Ballou (1861) died in the First Battle of Bull Run, a war led by former President Abraham Lincoln. Ballou wrote a letter to his beloved wife named Sarah; the delivery of the letter was contingent upon his death. Ballou fought for what he believed in- civil rights, and the safety of his country; I believe Ballou reached the climactic point in his life when he died for his country: a war hero.
depressing. It appears that this poem was the reaction of the death of a loved one.
"Overview: “To an Athlete Dying Young”." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol.7. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
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