123 School Work

Closer Look at A E Housman s To an Athlete Dying Young

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  While the beginning of the poem can seem sad and dark, A.E. Housman shifts to a different outlook on the death of a young person. The poet's point is that it is better to die young with your glory and reputation still enacted. This point is reinforced through the use of classical references.
  The first two stanzas of the poem are a contrast of the runner's glory while alive versus the glory when he dies. Housman uses the literary device of apostrophe, by having the speaker address his thoughts to the dead youth: "The time you won" (1). The contrast between the townspeople carrying him home with glory after winning the race and their carrying him in his casket after his death is shown by the words "shoulder-high"(4). Another contrast was made between his hometown, for which he won the race, and "A stiller town," (8) which represents death. Threshold is a word Housman uses to represent the grave...