To An Athlete Dying Young Summary

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In A. E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young”, the author explores the idea of dying young, but still being remembered by those who live on by using the honor and pride of young athletes as a familiar setting. Dying with a name worth remembering is seen as favorable to outliving a person’s honor. Glory is hard to obtain, and once it has been obtained, it quickly begins to fade away. The first two stanzas of the poem reminisce about the “glory days” of an athlete’s life, such as being carried around town in celebration after winning a race. These stanzas set the stage for the rest of the poem, as it shows the fame and stardom of the life this athlete lived. Housman uses the line “From fields where glory does not stay” to show the reader …show more content…

In the sixth stanza the poem reads: “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”. This stanza describes the final moments of a young athlete’s time, as he is set down in his grave. The “echoes” represent his relevance in the town, like the echoes of those who are talking about him. This athlete is being set down on the “sill of shade”, which is his final resting place. The idea of dark imagery is prevalent in other parts of the poem as well. The “still-defended challenge-cup” symbolizes how this athlete is leaving behind a legacy to be remembered by. This life -- dying young with a reason to be remembered -- is shown as far better than living to watch honor and glory fade away from a past life being held on to. Dying a champion does have some downsides, as told in the fourth stanza: “Eyes the shady night has shut / Cannot see the record cut, / And silence sounds no worse than cheers / After earth has stopped the ears”. Death -- being represented by the “shady night” -- stops an athlete’s life where it once was. The silence that the athlete experiences in death means that he will no longer hear the cheers of the crowds that once flocked to see him; however, his status is now set in stone, and he will never have to hear any booing crowds in his later years. Finally in

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