To an Athlete Dying Young by Alfred Edward Housman - Literature review Example

Textual Analysis: Alfred Edward Housman “To an Athlete Dying Young” “To an Athlete Dying Young” is a poem by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 to 1936) which narrates the story of a young athlete from the third person point of view. The narrator presents the last days of a young athlete who had brought great honor to his town by winning a race only for him to die a short while after achieving this milestone in his life and that of the town. The narrator speaks directly to the dead athlete seeking to comfort him that it was better to die young especially since he had already accomplished much in his life. The narrator also reminds the athlete about the race that he won and the subsequent celebration of the victory by people from his town. However, the narrator reminds the dead athlete that on this occasion, he is going down the path that all runners must take. The narrator warns that the glory of an athlete was short lived fading faster than period taken to achieve the success. In line nine, the narrator claims “Smart lad, to slip betimes away” noting that by dying young, the athlete will be remembered for a long time since the glory achieved could have been short lived than the youth’s life. The narrator therefore compliments the young athlete since by dying young; he had avoided future, sadness from seeing his record bettered by others. The setting of this poem is at the graveyard as residents of the town gather to participate in the burial of the young athlete who had brought fame to their town. The poem involves the athlete who died only a few years after achieving glorify as the main character while the narrator is a person who had lived in the town and witnessed as the young athlete achieved glory up to the time he was buried. The narrator is a close friend or a relative since he had been involved in the major events of the athlete’s life as depicted in his presence at the funeral and also when he won the race as depicted in the second line “We chaired you through the market-place.” The other characters in the poem are the townspeople who include the athlete’s neighbors and other admirers who after witnessing the athlete win the race carried him on their shoulder. “To an Athlete Dying Young” is made up of seven stanzas with each of the stanza having two pairs of end-rhyming lines creating AABB rhyme scheme seen for instance “rout/out” and “outran/man” (17-20). The poem can be classified both as a lyric poem and as an elegy. As a lyric poem, "To an Athlete Dying Young" expresses the personal feelings of the narrator especially focusing on the narrator’s general view on the circumstances surrounding the life and death of the young athlete. The narrator for instance thinks that the athlete was a “smart lad” for dying when he did, at the peak of his fame when everybody was still proud of him for winning the race (9). As an elegy, "To an Athlete Dying Young" the speaker mourns and grief the loss of a young talent that was only at its peak while also praising him for the accomplishes that the athlete had achieved so far. He notes that the death came at an opportune time since the athlete had achieved the highest level in his career by winning the race. The speaker feels the athletes death represents a happy ending claiming “Now you will not swell the rout/Of lads that wore their honors out/Runners whom reknown outran/And the name died before the man” (17-20). This means the athlete will not live to see his records broken by others who will be better than he will in future. The speaker adds that the athlete was going to hold the champion’s cup for ever since by dying while still champion, he did not have to give it away if he were to loss the next competition as portrayed when the speaker notes “And hold to the low lintel up/The still-defended challenge-cup” (23-24). The theme of the poem "To an Athlete Dying Young” is glory and fame is temporary presented through the speaker’s take on the achievement and death of the young athlete. The competitive nature of human beings means that what is considered the greatest achievement today can be surpassed tomorrow by other great things that will make people forget the importance of past achievements. By praising the athlete’s early death especially since it came at a time when he was enjoying his fame after winning a race, the speaker asserts that it is better to die when one has achieved greatness than when people have forgotten about the past accomplishment. The speaker says, “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” (9-12). This implies that the athlete will be remembered forever since the memory of his achievements will remain with the townspeople who had witnessed his exploits in the race. The short-term nature of glory and fame as the main theme in the poem "To an Athlete Dying Young” is developed through various stylistic devices one of them being simile. In line eleven and twelve the speaker notes “And early though the laurel grows/It withers quicker than the rose” (11-12). The laurel, which symbolizes victory and glory, is being compared to the survival of a rose. The rose flower is known to weather after a short period of time when plucked. This simile seeks to demonstrate how people quickly forget what one has achieved in the past therefore advising the athlete that his current fame and glory would not have lasted into foreseeable future had he remained alive. Personification is one of the literary devices used in the poem to present the nature of death where the speaker says "Eyes the shady night has shut" (13) and "After earth as stopped the ears" (16). The two lines include personification of night, which is said to “shut”, and the earth “stopped the ears”, which are not characteristics of animate beings with the aim of these personifications being to show that death was a natural process that exists among human beings. Further these literarily devices in this case are to achieve a peaceful bliss by offering protection to the athlete who will no longer have to see his fame forgotten when his record is broken by other athletes. The poem also commences with the speaker addressing the dead athlete as if he was still alive and listening to him therefore resulting in the style called apostrophe. The poem begins with the speaker reminding the dead athlete that "The time you won your town the race/ We chaired you through the market-place" (1-2). Apostrophe in this case serves the purpose of bringing the athlete’s past success to light. The speaker seeks to reminisce what the athlete had achieved in the therefore reassuring him that his is not a wasted life and that the athlete should be proud of the achievements made up to the time of death. There is also the use of allusion when the speaker says “And round that early-laurelled head” (25). This is an allusion to the laurel wreath, which is found in Greek history and was used to crown a champion of a racing event. The aim of this allusion is to place the achievements of the dead athlete in the history of other great champions indicating his status among the best there has been in the past. The athlete’s exploits in the race had placed him in the books of history while his death at the prime of his career had also made his achievements memorable among the townspeople. The other stylistic device important in the realization of the theme is the use of metaphor especially when the speaker wants to demonstrate the fleeting nature of glory and fame. Death has been referred to as “the road all runners come” which means everyone will finally die but it was now the turn of the young athlete to go through that process which should be good for him since he goes through it with victory and fame (5). The speaker also adds that the young athlete was now a “Townsman of a stiller town” which means the athlete has now transitioned to a new world that is more stable than the one he has left behind (8). The metaphor of “a stiller town” also assures the young athlete that he will no longer have to worry about the stiff competition that he encountered in the his previous town, which means his record will not be broken while in his new town which in this case is the graveyard. Housman successfully provides a refreshing perception about the death of a young successful person. Although such a death is supposed to be tragic, the poet seek to prove that successful life is one that ends when one is at his peak. Death when one is at the prime of life as seen in that of the young athlete presents an escape route to the stress and hustles that characterize peoples’ struggles to keep pace with their competitive environment. Death such as that of the athlete in “To an Athlete Dying Young” can be celebrated in view of what the poet sees as transition to “a stiller town” (8). This means the athlete will be resting in a new town without aggressive competition. Consequently, the poet wants the life of people who die young to be celebrated instead of mourning what could have become of such a person had he lived longer to continue competing for more glory especially given that living longer would mean the death of his name. This is shown in line twenty where the speaker says “And the name died before the man” meaning death will have come anyway but through that of the athlete’s reputation if he had lived longer. Work Cited Housman, Alfred Edward. “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Poems of Solace and Remembrance. Ed. Negri, Paul. Mineola, New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2001. 47-48. Print. Read More