To an Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman

Text:

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.

Today, 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.

Initial Reaction:

The poem is about a young athlete who dies in his prime. At the beginning of the poem, the author depicts the boy alive and well as the town cheered him on for winning the race. However, the rest of the poem laments the fact that the boy died at the height of his life.

Paraphrase:

The time you won the track race
The people of the town carried you through the market;
As all the people stood by cheering, Man
And brought you home on their shoulders. And

Today all the other runners come, Today
And we carry your coffin shoulder-high,
And set you down at your threshold,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart boy, to slip away,
From the land where glory is temporary,
And even though the trees grow
They die quicker than a rose.

Your shut eyes
Cannot see the record cut,
And the silence of the people that is no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not have to be on the same path
As boys who run out of glory,
Runners who outran the path
And whose glory died before them.

So you die before your glory fades,
The fast feet on the shades,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still possessed trophy.

And round that head
Will be the people that stare at the dead,
And find lying on the curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.

SWIFTT:

SW: “To an Athlete Dying Young” is a lyric poem that has a rhyme scheme of aabb. The poem has simple structure of seven stanzas each with four lines. Words throughout the poem contain a somber and lamenting undertone in words such as “withers,” “eyes…shut,” and “echoes fade.” The somber words depict the death of the boy and the mourning that the town underwent due to his death.

I: The poem paints an image of a young boy who died at the height of his life. Not long before his death, the boy had won a race amidst the praises of his town. However, the boy died young, and the author paints a picture of the boy’s funeral as he describes the men holding the coffin “shoulder-high,” similar to the way they once hoisted the boy through the town after his win in the race. In addition, the narrator describes the people who “Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead.”

F: The poem repeats the word “shoulder-high” twice to symbolize the life and death of the young boy. The first time the word “shoulder-high” is mentioned, the boy is being carried on the shoulders of the men as they cheered him on for his win in the race. The second time the word “shoulder-high” is used the boy is being carried on the shoulders of men in his coffin.

T: The tone of the poem is somber as it depicts a young boy that died in the prime of his life. The somber tone of the poem can be seen in lines like “It withers quicker than the rose,” “Eyes the shady night has shut,” and “So set, before its echoes fade.”

T: The poem conveys the theme that when a person dies at the height of their glory or youth, people tend to romanticize the life of the person and what they could have achieved in life if they had not died. For example, the author stated that because the boy had died in his prime, he would never have to be like the boys who “wore their honours out” or the boys whose “name died before the man.” Instead, the author stated that the dead athlete would still be able to defend his “challenge-cup” in his death.

Conclusion:

The poem was about a young boy who died in the prime of his life. Prior to his death, the boy was hoisted “shoulder-high” by the men in his town as the people praised him for his win in the town race. However, shortly after the win, the boy died and was carried “shoulder-high” in his coffin. Through the simple nature and structure of the poem, the author conveys the message that when a person dies in their prime, they leave behind a romanticized image of what they could have become if they had lived.