To An Athlete Dying Young
Beginning of paper
Analysis of A. E. Housman’s “”
Dying young is considered by most to be one of the most tragic of fates. The specter of things undone and a life unlived haunts the funeral and colors the grief to an even darker shade. Most people desire to live to a ripe old age and would be shoc ....
Middle of paper
.... is an expression of irony. The first time it is used in line 4 of the poem it refers to an exciting happy occasion. The second time it is used in line 6, it refers to a casket being carried on the shoulders of others, a sad and mournful time.
Rather than join the others in mourning, however, in the third stanza the speaker is instead reflecting on how lucky the young athlete was to have died when he did:
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though ....
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Word count: 641
Page count: 3 (approximately 250 words per page)
