...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 ... ... middle of paper...
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...more emotional range of text, it is quite the opposite for Housman who applauds and glorifies death. The speaker of “To an Athlete Dying Young” is a fan of an athlete and someone who lives in the same town as the athlete. The more personal poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” speaks for a family member. The mood emphasized in Housman’s poem is a celebration of death, while the idea in Dylan’s poem is that death is something that you should fight until the very end because it is evitable. The mood of each poem is on two very different spectrums. One is a celebration and the other is a battle. Housman seems to be happy that the athlete who died in his poem was apart of the speaker’s life. Thomas seems to be very frustrated, upset and discouraged about death. The poet, Housman, gratifies the runner and his way of living through the hearts of the town’s people who watched him participate. The main influence for this poem seems to be not only the athlete, but also the audience that cheers on the athlete who has died at a very young age. The attitude towards death is upbeat, gay, and celebratory. There is a lot of anger, rage and misfit in Thomas’s poem. It is clear that the set of Dylan’s poem is death should be fought with tremendous fury. The influence is that you should live a life full of guts and glory. “Rage, Rage, Rage against the dying of the light.” The message is do not succumb to a peaceful, gentile death, but rather battle and scream as you take your last...
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...First off, "To an Athlete Dying Young", by Housman was about fame and death. To die, one can be killed, or die of natural causes. Some fear death, others look upon death as a crossing point to another life, but no human can stop its rampage. Housman's poem talks about the gradual death of fame and the more sudden death of its owner. As commonly known, the laurel represents victory and triumph. Yet, as with fame, the laurel dies faster than a rose. This poem is focused on the disappearance of fame, and how an athlete is better off dying, than witnessing the death of his/her fame. Strangely enough, the poet does not lament the death of the athlete. Instead, he talks about all the benefits of dying an early death, and how lucky the athlete was. Next up, the poet Yusef Komunyakaa, and his "...
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...Ahmad Ibrahim English 103 David Overly, Ph.D. July 23, 2014 Paper #2 The poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” is about a young athlete from a small town who represents for his town and people by winning a footrace. The athlete is being cheered on and praised for the accomplishments he has done for his fans and town but at the end of the race the athlete has no idea what’s in store for him as soon as he reaches the finish line, sudden death. The young athlete is dead and his people are devastated after they have witnessed glory and fame cut short. Ironically A.E Housman doesn’t laminate the athlete’s sad death nor does he acknowledge it in a negative way instead Housman talks about the perks of dying at young age after accomplishing something glorifying. Bob Marley, the first superstar celebrity to sell more than 20 million records throughout his career. In 1963 Bob and his friends have formed the Wailing Wailers and in 1972 the Wailers came up strong by signing a contract with Island Records. Bob Marley has helped introduced the world with reggae music and until this day he remains one of the most beloved artist his fame has not died nor did his music because of the impact he has made to music listeners. Bob was almost assassinated in 1976 back in Jamaica due to his political beliefs; he was attacked while on stage by a group of gun-men luckily he was struck on his biceps but his wife Rita was shot on the head, Bob continued his show but even more motivated. In 1981 Bob...
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