To An Athlete Dying Young Analysis

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When reading poems, one has to look deeper than just the words and stanzas; one must really think about what the words are saying. They must think through what the author is really trying to tell the reader; there's always a deeper message than just what one may think. A.E. Housman is the author of many poems with many different messages in them. He spent most of his life engaged in teaching and in scholarly pursuits, but he's most remembered for three slender volumes of poetry. He is well known for his poems "To an Athlete Dying Young" in this poem there are three main messages.

The first message is glory fades within time, you may be famous at a certain period of times, but it's never going to last. Which is completely true. No matter how "big" you are right now you will never be known forever; there will come a day when one is no longer remembered. When one says your name everyone will be confused and won't even know who you are. Housman says, "So set, before its echoes fade" on line twenty-one. I believe that this means, so die before everyone forgets about you; this may be a little harsh, but he's trying to explain to us that it may be better to die before everyone forgets you.
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I do not necessarily believe this to be true, because yes one may be forgotten, but wouldn't one want to live a life make memories and grow old. Maybe it all depends on someone's priorities. If one's main priority in life is to be famous and known then, yes they would believe dieing young and famous. However, not everyone thinks this way, some think that making memories and growing old are just as important, so it's better for one to die old and