Athlete Dying Young Figurative Language

There are many important factors to a poem that an author must use illustrate and convey the meaning of a verse. A.E Housman uses these types of text to perfection in “To An Athlete Dying Young”. This poem is unique due to the exceptional use of imagery, symbolism, and figurative language.

In the poem “To An Athlete Dying Young,” A.E Housman uses repeated imagery of death and victory. Housman states “The time you won your town race, We chaired you through the marketplace, Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high.”(Line 1-4), illustrates the imagery of victory. Triumph is also later demonstrated in his writing when the people in the town carried him through the town in celebration. The feeling of death is felt

when Housman writes about the runner’s funeral at the cemetery, “Today, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town.” (Lines 5-8, Stanza 2). The emotion of death continues as Housman’s text utilizes a range of word choices having to do with the athlete’s burial and the images of the young runner dying, as well as being remembered and honored. The imagery presented in the poem helps the reader imagine what is going on in the text when the runner becomes the hometown hero as the town’s members are celebrating his victory, then transitions to when the town is carrying him to the athlete’s funeral and burial site.
Symbolism is very vital in the text as it helps the reader understand what the meaning of the poem is about. The use of symbolism is spotted when Housman states, “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”(Lines 9-12, Stanza 3). The word “laurel” (line 11) is used to symbolize victory, magnificence, fame, and grandeur. The laurel leaf on a tree symbolizes human life as Housman implied
When a person picks a leaf from a tree, the leaf will die and “wither away”.

The leaf is characterized as a human’s death and is parallel to a leaf being plucked out of a tree as a human is removed out of the earth. The symbolism in “To An Athlete Dying Young” helps the reader recognize that glory and fame will fade away as one dies. In addition to imagery and symbolism, figurative language is key in the poem, “To An Athlete Dying Young.” The figurative language used in the poem is personification and apostrophe. Housman states, “Eyes the shady night has shut,” (line 13) and “After earth has stopped the ears”(line 16) to use personification because earth cannot stop a person’s ears and night can’t shut because earth has no hands. Moreover, A.E Housman uses apostrophe as he states, “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”(line 1-4) so the reader can conclude that the speaker is speaking to the athlete as he is still living. The reader can acknowledge that the speaker is remembering the athlete’s young life and says that dying young is better than dying in his or her high point in their career. Also, the reader can come to a conclusion and feel how the athlete and the speaker had a very good

affiliation
In sum of A.E. Housman’s use of figurative language, symbolism, and imagery the reader can conclude how important these factors in writing “To An Athlete Dying Young,” are so valuable and vital to the word choice. Without the text consisted in the poem, the meaning and feelings would be totally different. Housman use of language and text is used to perfection and his poem will never fade away such as the athlete fame did.