To an Athlete Dying Young

1. To an Athlete Dying Young A.E. Housman Jennifer Larimore Lauren Donoghue

2. Out of Africa (1985)“He was not mine” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMRRXqtKRMI • Meryl Streep states every other stanza

3. *Attended Oxford University, but failed his final exams ~Turmoil over Moses Jackson? *Realization of homosexual desires *Published two volumes of poetry in his lifetime -A Shropshire Lad (1896) -Last Poems (1922) *Despite acclaim as a a scholar and a poet in his lifetime, Housman lived as a recluse, rejecting honors and avoiding the public eye. A.E. Housman <Alfred Edward Housman>(1859-1936)

4. A Shropshire Lad (1896) • Cycle of 63 Poems • Written after the death of Adalbert Jackson, Housman’s friend and companion in 1892 • Themes of pastoral beauty, unrequited love, fleeting youth, grief, death, and the patriotism of the common soldier • Published at Housman’s own expense after turned down by several publishers • To an Athlete Dying Young – 19th Poem

5. The time you won your town the raceWe chaired you through the market-place;Man and boy stood cheering by,And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day, the road all runners come,Shoulder-high we bring you home,And set you at your threshold down,Townsman of a stiller town. Smart lad, to slip betimes awayFrom fields were glory does not stayAnd early though the laurel growsIt withers quicker than the rose. Eyes the shady night has shutCannot see the record cut,And silence sounds no worse than cheersAfter earth has stopped the ears: Now you will not swell the routOf lads that wore their honours out,Runners whom renown outranAnd the name died before the man. So set, before its echoes fade,The fleet foot on the sill of shade,And hold to the low lintel upThe still-defended challenge-cup. And round that early-laurelled headWill flock to gaze the strengthless dead,And find unwithered on its curlsThe garland briefer than a girl's. To an Athlete Dying YoungA.E. Housman

6. The time you won your town the raceWe chaired you through the market-place;Man and boy stood cheering by,And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day, the road all runners come,Shoulder-high we bring you home,And set you at your threshold down,Townsman of a stiller town. After the athlete won the race The townspeople carried him home on their shoulders while the crowd stood by cheering Today, the athlete is on the road to the cemetery in a coffin which the townspeople carry, and when they reach his final resting place, set down at the threshold of the tomb (and of eternity), where he will occupy a quiet town, the cemetery. Road all runners come: After all human beings run the race of life, they must travel the road of death Stanzas I & II

7. Smart lad, to slip betimes awayFrom fields were glory does not stayAnd early though the laurel growsIt withers quicker than the rose. The athlete was smart to die young before his glory had a chance to fade as he grew older. The laurel, a symbol of victory, wither faster than the rose, a symbol of an average life span. Betimes: early, promptly Stanza III

8. Eyes the shady night has shutCannot see the record cut,And silence sounds no worse than cheersAfter earth has stopped the ears: Now you will not swell the routOf lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outranAnd the name died before the man. Now that his eyes are closed forever, he cannot witness the breaking of records he set. Also, because he can no longer hear, silence and cheers “sound” the same to him. shady night: death He will not be among the multitude (swell) of athletes who lived long and were forgotten when they could no longer perform. Fame and glory outran these athletes, so their names died before their bodies. Stanzas IV & V

9. So set, before its echoes fade,The fleet foot on the sill of shade,And hold to the low lintel upThe still-defended challenge-cup. And round that early-laurelled headWill flock to gaze the strengthless dead,And find unwithered on its curlsThe garland briefer than a girl's. Let us set his coffin down on the threshold of the tomb before the echoes of his running feet can fade. Let us also hold up his trophy, a challenge cup, before the crossbeam atop the entrance of his tomb. still of shade: entrance to death The cemetery denizens (the dead) will come to look at the athlete, who is crowned with the laurel wreath as a sign of victory. They will find him and his laurel wreath well preserved. Stanzas VI & VII

10. Tone. ~Premature death with a celebratory tone: -Cynical view: implies a more or less habitual disposition to look on the dark side of things, and to believe that the worst will happen ^-Housman suggests that life in later years is humdrum and wearisome, thus praising the athlete for dying before his glory fades -Expresses that it perhaps might be better to die at the peak of life rather than to grow old and exist when one’s achievements or honors will not be remembered. -Death, which is literally inescapable, is not necessarily a curse

11. ??? Would you rather die young, at your peak, right after you accomplish all your greatest achievements? Or Would you rather live a long healthy life, when your honors and accomplishments might not be remembered?

12. Works Cited • "To an Athlete Dying Young." EXPLORING Poetry. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Bronze. Gale. North Allegheny Senior High School. 19 May. 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC-3&docId=EJ2114301233&source=gale&srcprod=SRCS&userGroupName=pl2552&version=1.0>. • "Housman, A(lfred) E(dward) (1859-1936)." DISCovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Bronze. Gale. North Allegheny Senior High School. 19 May. 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC-3&docId=EJ2101100527&source=gale&srcprod=SRCS&userGroupName=pl2552&version=1.0>. • Bishop, John Peale. "The Poetry of A. E. Housman." DISCovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Bronze. Gale. North Allegheny Senior High School. 19 May. 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC-3&docId=EJ2101204575&source=gale&srcprod=SRCS&userGroupName=pl2552&version=1.0>. • "A.E. Housman." poets.org. 2009. Academy of American Poets. 11 May 2009 <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/631>. • Cummings , Michael . "To an Athlete Dying Young." Cummings Study Guides. May 2009. 11May 2009 <http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Housman.html>.