To an Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman (1896)

To an Athlete Dying Young By A.E. Housman (1896) . Text of the Poem Summaries and Notes

After the athlete won a race, the The time you won your town the race townspeople carried him home on their shoulders while a crowd We chaired you through the market-place; stood by Man and boy stood cheering by, cheering And home we brought you shoulder-high. chaired: carried

Today, the athlete is on the road to the To-day, the road all runners come,...... 5 cemetery in a coffin which the townspeople carry and set down Shoulder-high we bring you home, at the threshold of the tomb (and of eternity), where he will And set you at your threshold down, occupy a quiet town, Townsman of a stiller town. the cemetery. road . . . come: After all human beings run the race of life, they

must travel the road of death.

The athlete was smart to die young before Smart lad, to slip betimes away his glory had a chance to fade as he grew older. The laurel, a From fields where glory does not stay,...... 10 symbol of victory, withers faster than the rose, a symbol of an average And early though the laurel grows life span. It withers quicker than the rose. betimes: early, promptly

Now that his eyes are closed forever, he Eyes the shady night has shut cannot witness the breaking of records he set. Also, Cannot see the record cut, because he can no longer hear, silence and cheers "sound" the same And silence sounds no worse than cheers...... 15 to him. After earth has stopped the ears: shady night: death He will not be among the multitude (swell) Now you will not swell the rout of athletes who lived long and were forgotten when they could no Of lads that wore their honours out, longer perform. Fame and glory outran these athletes, so Runners whom renown outran their names died And the name died before the man...... 20 before their bodies.

Let us set his coffin down on the threshold So set, before its echoes fade, of the tomb before the echoes of his running feet can fade. Let The fleet foot on the sill of shade, us also hold up his trophy, a challenge cup, before the And hold to the low lintel up crossbeam atop the entrance to his tomb. sill of shade: entrance to The still-defended challenge-cup. death

The cemetery denizens (the dead) will And round that early-laurelled head...... 25 come to look at the athlete, who is crowned with a laurel wreath Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead, as a sign of victory. They will find him and his laurel wreath well And find unwithered on its curls preserved. The garland briefer than a girl's.