To An Athlete Dying Young

Part I of Essay
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 ....

Part II of Essay
.... 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 the laurel grows It withers quicker than the rose. Dying was better than lingering on outlasting the glory of his victories. ....