The poem by A. E. Housman, “To an Athlete Dying Young”, is self explanatory from its title yet goes deeper into the effects it will have on the young man’s legacy. The author uses an easy to understand language with a mixture of metaphors and blunt statements that flow together in such a way that the reader must think what the meaning is yet not enough to hinder the overall meaning of the poem to being discovered. Housman paints a portrait of words that show an athlete whose death has come too soon by a normal standard but at just the right time in reference to the glory he has received from his athletic achievements.
The poem shows the achievements and glory won from the very first stanza stating, “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.” This statement shows the pride that this young athlete brought to his town and the glory he received with that achievement.
Housman doesn’t take long to show the fatality that falls on the young man with the second stanza that reads, “Today, the road all runners come, shoulder-high we brought you home, and set you at your threshold down, townsman of a stiller town.” The author uses the irony being held shoulder high in the cheering crowd after winning the race to being held shoulder high in the mournful crowd after his untimely death. He also shows that the young mans home and town is different, with the latter one metaphorically speaking of death; not only was there a comparison there but Houseman says, “the road all runners come” showing that everyone must die.
The next three stanzas all deal with the same theme, which are the effects of the famous athlete dying so young. Right away there is a feeling of hope that maybe it was for the best that this tragedy has taken place when the reader sees, “Smart lad, to slip betimes away from fields where glory does not stay and early though the laurel grows it whither quicker than the rose.” The author calls the lad smart, the reason for this is hinted at but not fully discovered until the next couple of stanzas when reading, “Eyes the shady night has shut cannot see the record cut… now you will not swell the rout of lads that wore their honor out, runners whom renown outran and the name died before the man. So set, before the echoes fade, the fleet foot on the sill of shade, and hold to the low lintel up the still-defended challenge cup.” All of this is saying that most athletes hear their praises and live past them and live past the glory they received and have to see themselves being forgotten by the crowds that one time cheered them. This is what the author says that the athlete who dies young misses and does not have to endure the pain of seeing himself outran because he died as the champion and will never have that taken from him by his own will making him the constant “defender of the challenge cup.
In the poem I think that A. E. Housman does and excellent job of using metaphors to show a greater meaning and a connection between lines in the poem. “To an Athlete Dying Young” is one of my personal favorite poems because I feel that most people can relate to it no matter what their age as long as they have some interest in sports.
