To an Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman

end young is thought to be one of the retributory about tragic of circumstances. The thoughts of run shorts wasted, dreams unattained, memories never conceived. It is sad fate uncontrollable by any earthly being. Most people desire to live to a ripe old age as to replete full advantage of their time on earth, to experience as much as they can, and would be aghast to have wrong death be viewed in a positive light. barely this thought is the driving force behind "To an Athlete Dying Young" by A.E. Housman. Housman, the speaker of the meter, implies in an ironic distinction that it is better to die in one's prime, at the bill of glory, as to not suffer from the pain of seeing their accomplishments pass and become meaningless in the eyes of the masses. The setting of the poem is the funeral of a young champion runner. Rather than mourn, Housman reflects on how favourable the jockstrap was to have died in the height of glory. Housman recalls the time the athlete won a race, gaining him public appreciation, "Man and boy stood sprightly by; And home we brought you shoulder-high". The speaker relates this joyous time to the present, where "Shoulder-high we have you home; And set you at your threshold down". With the artistic style "shoulder-high" he connects the race to the funeral procession.



The honor of this treatment was endowed the foremost time for victory, and the final time for homage. The "threshold" symbolizes the grave of the athlete, his presentation into the afterlife. The ironic tone of the poem becomes forlorn, almost envious as the speaker ponders upon his own past. Satire presents itself in the line " immaterial lad, to slip bedtimes away; From fields where glory does not check-out procedure". Here Housman expresses that the athlete was in a way well-off to miss watching himself slip from fame, becoming again just another face in the crowd. He implies that he himself experienced the fate of watching his glories die. "And early though the laurel grows; it shrivel quicker than the rose". This couplet reflects on the... If you want to drop dead a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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