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 was fighting cancer for a few months then heading out to Germany to undergo an alternative treatment until soon Bob realized the end was near for him. Once it was clear to him he had very little time left to live Bob wanted to head back to his motherland Jamaica to rest in peace in his country but it was too late and his life was gone as soon has reached Miami, Florida. In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” Housman hints us one major theme its death as you can see from the title of the poem and the act takes place in a funeral most of the time. Housman doesn’t describe death as just going to a dark hole but he describes it as an everlasting home or destination. Housman makes it clear that glory is fleeting; glory will come and go but then again you never really know how long someone could be in their prime for. Bob Marley was in his prime for years; he got to see the flashing lights and got to experience the life of a celebrity while his music was still a success. Also in the poem “To an Athlete dying young” in the very first stanza Housman introduces the idea of home and it seems to also be one of the key themes. Housman compares crossing the land of the existing to the land of the dead and also uses the idea of home to comfort the pain of death in the poem, On the other hand Bob Marley was very contributed his home his influence in his native land was seen as a threat to the PNP’s rival which might have caused the death of his wife Rita and the attempted murder on Bob. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” pride plays a very important roll, we all know pride and completion often go hand in hand for better or worse but Housman suggest that dying young the athlete doesn’t have to worry about losing fame, losing pride , and losing athletic ability. Bob Marley’s pride was very absolute especially because of where he comes from and the great accomplishments he has achieved during his lifetime that requires pride to have such an effect on someone listening to his music. Even after passing away Bob’s music remains widely praised and his music legacy continues. Pride is what helps to achieve victory! In Stanza 2 of “To an Athlete Dying Young” Housman states “The road all runner come” (5), mentions that death awaits the athlete at the end of the race and the same towns people who cheered on the young athlete on the day of the race are now bringing the athlete “home” (6) (graveyard) “shoulder high” (6) (in the casket) .Bob Marley can relate to this because when he found out his life was at a near end the first thing on his mind was for him to go home to his country, unfortunately cancer beat him before he could make it to his homeland, but Bob Marley’s body was shipped the next day to Jamaica for a funeral which was an astonishing event for his fans, thousands of them! Housman directly talks about how the young athlete was wise to pass away early where he states “smart lad, to slip bedtimes away” (9), as Housman tries to look on the bright side considering that glory does not stay permanently. In other words if the athlete would of stayed alive would he have won every race he is expected to win or will he disappoint his fans and his town? Well according to Housman the athlete had an early victory in life “early though the laurel grows” (11), but it will fade away quick, just how quick? “Quicker than the rose” (12), as Housman stated. Basically, Housman is suggesting that the love and respect the crowd has for the athlete in death will last much longer, and perhaps even be eternal. Now when Bob Marley passed away at the age of 36, was it more of a sad moment for his country or did they feel glorified for what Bob Marley has achieved for his people? Of course Bob Marley’s town people were devastated from Bob Marley’s death, but they cheered him as his body was being held shoulder high from the same fans that experienced his life journey and accomplishments. Bob Marley was also a person how loved to inspire people no matter what kind of situation anyone could be going through, also throughout his career he has also acknowledged the “herb life” as a symbol of his love for mother nature as he once quoted “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction”. Does Housman’s statement about the “rose” (12), in the poem relate to Bob Marley’s herb addiction? Defiantly it does because Housman talks about how the rose will fade away meaning the athlete’s fame and glory will vanish, that also indicates Bob’s life being shortened every time he decides to smoke his herb.
Housman “eyes the shady night has shut” (13), “cannot see the record cut” (14), states that the young athlete won’t have to worry about anyone beating him or his record because he won’t have any acknowledge of it. The young athlete has shown what he was capable of and everyone seemed to like it that’s what made him who he was, a winner, but if he’s dead no one can challenge the young athlete to test his athletic ability any further. Housman also mentions how the athlete won’t have to miss the sounds of his fans cheering, “and silence sounds no worse the cheers” (15), because he isn’t there to join the crowd of the celebrities who were once famous and outlived their fame. Bob Marley wasn’t one of those superstar celebrities who had outlived their fame; in fact by the time Bob Marley had passed away he was starting to be known as a young legend seeking his final destination, despite his drug abuse Bob Marley’s intentions to the world was unconditional happiness. Bob Marley came across a lot of negativity in his life but kept his inner immortality a secret because of the outlook he gave his fans about being happy and living life with no worries. “Don’t worry, be happy” a famous song by Bob Marley.
Bob Marley did not put himself with the crowd, which is why he stood out significantly, in fact Bob Marley attracted many different kinds of people throughout the planet with his stress relieving music that didn’t attract other celebrities to work with him, Bob isolated himself with his taste of life which caused his fame to never die before his name has. In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” Housman states, “Now you will not swell the rout” (17), meaning the young athlete will not join the crowd by adding himself in to the levels of fame. Housman admires that the young athlete does not have to deal with future problems nor does he have to worry about haters. Housman, “So set, before its echoes fade” (21), “the fleet foot on the sill of shade” (22), refers that the young athlete should be put in the tomb before the echoes of applause start to diminish away. Housman wants the athlete farewell in style, by having the towns people hold up his trophy over his grave, showing pride for his early accomplishments.
After the death of Bob Marley, his name was still in demand even until this day. Bob Marley was very victorious in order for his fame to be expanded for decades after death. Bob was the only foreign artist to participate in the independence ceremony at Zimbabwe in 1980 that’s when Bob Marley was having a great time of success; he began an American tour to reach blacks in the USA, he played two shows in New York at Madison Square Garden but had collapsed while jogging in NYC’s Central Park on September 21, 1980 and that’s when bob Marley has been notified that he has been diagnosed with cancer spreading to his brains, lungs, and stomach. In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” Housman says that “round that early-laurelled head” (25), “will flock to gaze the strength less dead” (26), now that the athlete has entered the gates of the life after, the residents of “stiller town” (8) will flock around him to praise his laurel victory that still remains nice and fresh. Housman wants to make the best of the athlete’s glory because he knows it wouldn’t last forever.
In conclusion, Houseman looks at death in a very different point of view, like as if it’s an honor to live through life and to go through the path of death. Different then how Bob Marley looked at life, Housman was about the quality of life and rather than the quantity of life. Housman seems to worry about reputation more the anything else. Bob Marley encourages his fans to live it up and to not regret what has come across us in the past, but perhaps Housman is trying to comfort the readers with the death of a young successful athlete to make his readers feel like there isn’t an ending to one’s life, but it just continues into a whole new journey that we must accept. To make the fullest out of life and death inspired by A.E Housman and Robert Nesta Marley AKA Bob Marley.

"PoetC - To an Athlete Dying Young." PoetC - To an Athlete Dying Young. PoetC, n.d. Web. 23 July 2014.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "To an Athlete Dying Young." Shmoop.com . Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 21 Jul. 2014.

"Nesta Robert Marley." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 21 July 2014.