To an Athlete Dying Young
To an Athlete Dying Young [1896]
A. E. Housman (1859-1936)
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.
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 away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And 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 up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.
Questions for Discussion
1. Which statement best paraphrases lines 11-12 from “To an Athlete Dying Young”? “And early though the laurel grows It withers quicker than the rose.”
A) Success in early life is almost always overshadowed by success in later life.
B) The older a person gets, the less he or she cares about winning.
C) A laurel wreath lasts longer than a garland of roses.
D) An early victory usually fades away and is forgotten as the victor ages. .
2. In the first two stanzas the carrying home of the athlete “shoulder-high” suggests the idea of —
A) death
B) defeat
C) honor .
D) sorrow
3. Describe the rhyme scheme used by the poet in “To an Athlete Dying Young.”
A) abca
B) aabb .
C) abba
D) abab
4. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” the poet inspires a sense of reverence for the deceased athlete by his use of —
A) direct quotations from friends
B) rosemary as a symbol
C) memories of his victory .
D) description of his burial
5. In Housman’s poem, he mentions laurel, which is used in Roman mythology. Which source would prove most useful to understand the Roman mythology mentioned in A. E. Housman’s poetry?
A) The New World Atlas of Ancient Rome
B) Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
C) The Anatomy of Criticism
D) Classic References in 20th Century English Poetry .
6. Which of these images is not used by the poet to allow the reader to understand a sense of loss?
A) the victory march through town
B) the laurel wreath
C) the gold medal .
D) the still-defended challenge-cup
7. The first stanza contains examples of —
A) paired couplets .
B) blank verse
C) internal rhyme
D) free verse
8. Which line from the poem contains an example of paradox?
A) Line 15 — “And silence sounds no worse than cheers” .
B) Line 24 — “The still-defended challenge-cup.”
C) Line 26 — “Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,”
D) Line 28 — “The garland briefer than a girl’s.”
9. The speaker communicates the townspeople’s love for the athlete through which lines?
A) Lines 1-2 “The time you won your town the race / We chaired you through the market-place;” .
B) Lines 9-10 “Smart lad, to slip betimes away / From fields where glory does not stay”
C) Lines 17-18 “Now you will not swell the rout / Of lads that wore their honors out,”
D) Lines 21-22 “So set, before its echoes fade, / The fleet foot on the sill of shade,”
10. This poem and others like it would most likely be found in which of these sources?
A) Contemporary Literary Criticism
B) The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing
C) A Handbook to Poetic Terms
D) The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry .