Because it praises an athlete who died young, the poem may be further classifed as an elegy. At first glance, it can be a major surprise that the author of the enormously popular poetry collection a shropshire lad was a classical scholar by the name of a. Housman wrote the elegy to an athlete dying young in 1896, following the death of his close friend, adalbert jackson. This poem first appeared in housmans selfpublished collection. The time you won your town the race we chaired you through the marketplace. Alfred edward housman 18591936 was an english poet and classical scholar. To an athlete dying young is one of housmans most often anthologized poems.
To an athlete dying young the time you won your town the race. Today, the road all runners come, shoulderhigh we bring you home, and set you at your threshold down, townsman of a stiller town. To an athlete dying young poem summary and analysis litcharts. Twice a week the winter thorough poem by alfred edward. To an athlete dying young poem by alfred edward housman. The poem focuses on a funeral held for an athlete who, as the title suggests, has died young. To an athlete dying young the time you won your town the race we chaired you through the marketplace. He was a brilliant classicist, first appointed professor of latin at university college, london, then trinity college, cambridge. Students will study poetry form elegy and villanelle and. Man and boy stood cheering by, and home we brought you shoulderhigh. In the poem to an athlete dying young what are some important features. The poem is set in a town and cemetery in nineteenthcentury england during the funeral and burial of a young athlete, a runner. Housmans commonly read to an athlete dying young, for example, present death as a way to celebrate a young life lived to its fullest. To an athlete dying young is an elegiac poem by the british victorian poet a.
Housman brings up the ideas of invincibility, gloating, and death to young athletes. To an athlete dying young flashcards and study sets quizlet. Housmans to an athlete dying young presents to the reader the tragedy of early death where the athlete at the time of his death was at the height of his physical glory in peak condition. Twice a week the winter thorough here stood i to keep the goal football then was fighting sorrow. Its quiet, melancholy tone, its theme of the comfort of death, and its simplicity of form and style combine to. In this lesson, students analyze, compare, and contrast two famous but different poems about death. Housman, originally published in his bestselling collection shropshire lad 1896. The time you won your town the race the academy of american poets is the largest membershipbased nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. To an athlete dying young analysis literary devices and poetic. The poem illuminates the prime of young athlete s life where countless records and achievements were reached during his glory, but it was all cut down. To an athlete dying young is a famous poem on account of its themes of the bitterness of the death at the height of glory. To an athlete dying young, ah, are you digging on my grave. During his lifetime he only published two volumes of poetry. The poem illuminates the prime of young athletes life where countless records and achievements were reached during his glory, but it was all cut down with his.
About the poem it is perhaps one of the most wellknown poems pertaining to early death. To an athlete dying young poem summary and analysis. To an athlete dying young is a lyric poem and it expresses the idea that a life, even a brief one, should be celebrated if lived to the. Poems about death, however, vary greatly both in terms of their tone and form. Today, the road all runners come, shoulderhigh we bring you home. A posthumous collection, called more poems, was edited by his brother laurence housman.