A. E. Housman’s “To An Athlete Dying Young” Essay

E. Housmans To An Athlete Dying Young is bulge of his series of poems collected in his book, A Shropshire Lad. It is set during the funeral march of a teen and victorious offset who died at the height of his career. The s breaker pointer is mavin of the pallbearers, who recounts the suspensors conquest and philosophizes on the timeliness of his goal. As with the counterbalance of the book, this poem resounds with the melancholic themes of death and dying in youth. To be much(prenominal) specific, this poem describes how it is best to die young and at the peak of is career in order for ones store and legacy to be forever etched in the minds of the quite a little. Though Housmans exhortation might take upm to be bordering on the macabre, it rings align rejoice, fortune, and fame are all fleeting.The poem starts by depicting the victory of the runner and how he became the source of pride in his town The time you win your town the race/ We chaired you through the market -place. The image of chairing shows how the townspeople carried the runner on their shoulders and paraded him in the market-place. The market setting is important, as it depicts a place where people of all ages and social status converge.It is a testament to the runners achievement and how it was able to bring unneurotic different people together in his victory. As they were carrying him on his shoulder, Man and boy stood cheering by, / And primary(prenominal) office we brought him shoulder-high. The utmost line of the offset printing stanza foreshadows what would happen as the poem progressed.Carrying him shoulder-high non only indicates how he was chaired by the townspeople but withal foreshadows how his position would be carried at the same shoulder-high level as he is brought to his tomb. Also, house could be read two ways given the foreshadowing denture as in his physical house and home as in his final ataraxising place. In this manner, the speaker draws a connection between his victory and his death, and how, in both instances, he would be carried by the shoulders to be brought home.In the second stanza, the procession takes a sudden turn from one of rejoicing and victory to one of sadness and melancholy, as this time, they are no prolonged celebrating but sending the athlete to his grave. Shoulders and house again are mentioned, paralleling that of the first stanza albeit taken on a somber tone. The procession takes place on the the road all runners come, a fiction for the road of life that everyone travels. other metaphor makes an appearance to further the sober theme once the athlete has been brought home, he becomes a townsman of a stiller town. The stiller town here refers non only to the cemetery at which he is buried but to the base that he is resting in peace, that he has accepted his death. Again, this idea of peaceful death corresponds wellspring to the theme. When young people die, people always assume that it is untimely, hen ce, they cannot rest in peace. However, for the athlete, his death is timely as he is at the peak of his career, ensuring that he leave alone remain a glorious image in the minds of the townspeople for generations to come.The third stanza presents the main theme of the poem by express that the runner was a smart lad, to slip betimes away / From handle where glory does not stay. The speaker also presents here the laurel as a symbolisation for glory and the rose as a symbol for the life of non-victors. He compares that lifespan of the laurel to the rose, indicating that the laurel easily withers, era the rose, slow to bloom, lives much longer.The fourth and fifth stanza both expound on the third, as it gives evidence of how death is indeed a blessing for the young athlete, for in death, he is able to preserve his victory. In death, he cannot see the record cut, indicating that he willing not have to deal with jr. and better runners eventually overtaking him, as they will inevita bly do. In dying, too, he will not become like any mine run athlete, who did not quit while they were ahead. As such, he is a inner(a) position, as he will not live to be disgraced, for his torso died before his name.In the third stanza, death is represented by the metaphor shady night, which works on an age-old technique of associating death with night. An oxymoron is also used in the third stanza silence sounds. It marries together two remote terms, which furthers the image of death, for in death, the only sound to be heard is silence. The main point of these two stanzas is that the brief life that he had is esteemed, for he did not have to suffer the loss of fame and glory.In the fifth stanza, the athlete is about to be laid in his tomb, and the speaker is exhorting his companions to recount once more the victory. He rationalizes that in doing such an act the memory of the runners victory is im soulfulnessized, preserving it in the minds of the people. The symbol of the chal lenge-cup is also used as a testament to the glory of the athlete. Once again, the metaphor of the death as shadow is used, indicating that death is not the loss of the leisurely of life but moreover the blocking of light. The importance of this metaphor to the poem is that death cannot extinguish the light of the runners glory. At most, it can only dim it to a more subtle shadow.Finally, the last stanza elevates the theme of the poem as well as the glorious athlete towards another, spiritual level. In a way, the last stanza encapsulates the promise of dying young and at the height of fame, and that despite the probable untimeliness of his demise, much more is to be gained through death. As the athlete passes on to the next life, the strengthless dead will flock to gaze at his early-laurelled head.The image of the dead surrounding the young athlete (implied by the devise early-laurelled) is a very powerful one, as it indicates how the glory of the athlete transcends the morta l plane, which makes it an even more laudable success. Furthermore, in this spiritual state, his laurel crowns will not wither. What this means is that his success has finally become immortal, and his glory will no longer fade, preserved as it is, ironically, through death.Death as a way to preserve glory and success may front to be too vain and too gruesome. However, it is important to go beyond this theme and instead, reach beyond the heart of the poem. For, at its heart and driving force spirit is a reminder to people to remember that worldly glory and success are but transitory.Works CitedHousman, A. E. To An Athlete Dying Young. Ed., Untermeyer, Louis. new(a) British Poetry. New York Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920 Bartleby.com, 1999. . 12 April 2007.