To An Athlete Dying Young - A poem by A.E. Housman

A.E. Housman - To An Athlete Dying Young

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.

To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

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.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.

Added: on May 4th, 2006 at 10:33 AM | Viewed: 10960 times | Comments (9)

To An Athlete Dying Young - Comments and Information
Poet: A.E. Housman Poem: To An Athlete Dying Young Volume: From A Shropshire Lad Year: Published/Written in 1886 Poem of the Day on: Apr 12 2007 Comment 9 of 9, added on May 25th, 2006 at 10:24 PM. A.E. Housman presents the merits of passing away in one’s prime in “To an Athlete Dying Young.” When one reads the first stanza, it is noticed that an athlete has won a race “And home we brought you shoulder-high” (line 4). In the second stanza, he is also brought home shoulder-high, but instead of it being a victory, it is a funeral procession. The speaker then seems to praise the young athlete who has died by stating, “Now you will not swell the rout/Of lads that wore their honors out” (lines17-18). The young athlete will be remembered as a winner since he died at his peak, instead of dying old and being forgotten. Housman’s use of a simple rhyme scheme of aabb… sets the simplicity of the poem. The poem also happens to be an apostrophe, because a dead person is addressed as if the person were alive joe from United States Comment 8 of 9, added on May 25th, 2006 at 5:14 PM. This is one of only two poems that I remember from high school. It's concept has come back to me many times. twenty years later I finally took the time to look it up. It rings true. Michelle Comment 7 of 9, added on May 4th, 2006 at 10:33 AM. I am writing a critic paper for english on this poem and I don't like it. Housman's idea in this poem is that it is good for an athlete to die young because then he won't have to feel the pain of being forgotten. Who would ever say that early death was good? Sami from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, To An Athlete Dying Young, has received 9 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by A.E. Housman with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!

Poem Info
To An Athlete Dying Young Volume: From A Shropshire Lad Year: Published/Written in 1886 Last read: 2008-10-10 04:23:02 Poem of the Day on: Apr 12 2007 Viewed 10960 times. Added on May 4th, 2006 at 10:33 AM.

Housman Info
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