To An Athlete Dying Young is a poem by A.E. Housman that reflects on the fleeting nature of youth and fame. The poem speaks to the sense of loss and regret that can come with dying young, particularly for those who have achieved great success in their youth. It suggests that there is a certain nobility in dying young, as one has not had the opportunity to experience the setbacks and disappointments of old age.
The poem begins with the lines "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." These lines paint a vivid picture of the celebration and adulation that surrounds the young athlete in the prime of his life. The townspeople are depicted as cheering him on and carrying him triumphantly through the streets, a clear indication of the esteem in which he is held.
However, the poem takes a more somber turn with the lines "Today, the road all runners come, / Shoulder-high we bring you home, / And set you at your threshold down, / Townsman of a stiller town." These lines suggest that the athlete has died young, and that he is being carried home in a funeral procession. The "road all runners come" is a metaphor for death, and the phrase "stiller town" implies that the athlete's hometown has become a quieter, more somber place in the wake of his passing.
The final stanza of the poem offers a reflection on the fleeting nature of youth and fame. The lines "Smart lad, to slip betimes away / From fields where glory does not stay / And early though the laurel grows / It withers quicker than the rose" suggest that the athlete's youth and glory will not last forever, and that he has avoided the disappointment and disillusionment that often come with old age. The phrase "laurel grows" refers to the ancient Greek practice of crowning victors with wreaths of laurel leaves, while the "rose" is a symbol of beauty and youth. The implication is that the athlete's youth and beauty will fade more quickly than the laurel leaves that symbolize his triumphs.
In conclusion, To An Athlete Dying Young is a poignant reflection on the fleeting nature of youth and fame. It suggests that there is a certain nobility in dying young, as one has not had the opportunity to experience the setbacks and disappointments of old age. The poem speaks to the sense of loss and regret that can come with dying young, particularly for those who have achieved great success in their youth.
≡Essays on To An Athlete Dying Young. Free Examples of Research Paper Topics, Titles GradesFixer
Personification: Personification is to provide human characteristics to inanimate objects. For the writer of this poem, he think that dying young is good because he will not have to see other people that are better than him. To comprehend this, you must first know what a laurel is. During marriage, it is important to love one another and to be completely honest or else it will not work out. Enjambment: It is described as a idea or clause that does not come to an give up at a line break; instead, it actions over the subsequent line. Throughout, Mametz Wood never falls out of line in terms of its structure. By using a more flowing style of writing, Housman is able to keep his readers engaged with the story since it perfectly matches the scene that he unfolds.
"To an Athlete Dying Young" Essay
He does not believe that he blends in at the gas station; he believes that he belongs on the basketball court, putting his talent to good use. Housman poem this theme is taken to its full extent. Lines eleven and twelve are good examples that show that the speaker has had some experience with success. The whole town, which is probably small, is in grief and mourning and in attendance to the funeral. As Bobby Joe Leggett defines at this point, the athlete is "carried of the shoulders of his friends after a winning race" 54. Sheers maintains the same measured tone, with same length stanzas all the way through.
To an Athlete Dying Young
Based upon that this would be considered non - fiction. Now that we know what a laurel is, we can now understand the full effect of lines eleven and twelve. ? I thought that this… To An Athlete Dying Young Figurative Language Essay A poem is a form of literature that has been around in the world for a long time. They were together in celebration of his victory and now are together in mourning his death. Death is what we all wish to avoid, but unfortunately, it is inevitable. As with the rest of the book, this poem resounds with the melancholic themes of death and dying… For anyone that has lost a loved one, the grief in often times unbearable.
Housman's To an Athlete Dying Young (400 Words)
This connotation, which is, used early in his poem acts as a element of foreshadowing to the concept of dying young, as a positive, which Housman focused later on in his poem. When I am done, I must grow old and live with the fact that someone is better than me; someone has elevated past my victories and is now in my spotlight. Oxymoron: It is a parent of speech in which apparently contradictory terms seem in conjunctions with every other. He believes that Flick should not be employed at a gas station because his talent with basketball is so much better than pumping gas. Although his lifestyles become short, the honor and the record he set would live there forever.
