Dying young is considered by most to be one of the most tragic of fates. The specter of

things undone and a life unlived haunts the funeral and colors the grief to an even darker

shade. Most people desire to live to a ripe old age and would be shocked to have a

premature death viewed in a positive light. Yet, this is exactly the driving force behind A.

E. Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young." In the poem, dying young and at the height

of your career is looked upon as fortunate. Living and watching your laurels wither away

The setting is the funeral of a young champion runner. The speaker begins by talking of

when the young athlete won the town race and was carried home "shoulder-high" (line 4).

He then makes a reference to the young athlete being carried "shoulder-high"(line 6) down

"the road all runners run" (line 5) home. The phrase "shoulder-high" is an expression

death. The speaker talks of experiencing defeat, having your records broken, and seeing

young athlete if he had lived to be old. He also assumes everyone will see life the way he

Dying was better than lingering on outlasting the glory of his victories. He speaks of

honors out," (line 18) the speaker seems to be also mourning his own special kind of

and a name forgotten. It draws your sympathy away from the young dead athlete and

Some common words found in the essay are:
Athlete Dying, Dying Dying, athlete dying, Introduction Literature, lucky athlete died, Sylvan Barnet, Housman's Athlete, records broken, housman's athlete dying, speaker's life, speaker instead, athlete died, lucky athlete, line 4, positive light, housman's athlete,
Approximate Word count = 658
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)