Joshua David Harris

04-20-07

Rough Draft

Ms. Thomas

Procession of Death in “To an Athlete Dying Young”

“To an Athlete Dying Young” is one of A.E. Housman’s most popular poems

from his collection “A Shropshire Lad.” The Workings of this poem were reworked

several times, to the point where only three original stanzas remained recognizable in the

finished work of Housman’s beloved masterpiece (Haber 85). Housman uses elements

from early Greek poetry, and specifically makes a connection to Pindar’s Olympian

Odes. “To an Athlete Dying Young” finds beauty in the life and death of a young,

successful athlete, even suggesting that his death may have been the most beautiful part

of his life (Martin 249).

Within A.E. Housman’s poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” There are two clear

processions in which the athlete partakes. The first is the athlete rising from a town hero

to an Olympic victor. The literary critic Nesca A. Robb compares these processions to the

procession of language:

The language of the opening stanzas has a suggestion of rustic speech that

vanishes completely as the poem mounts to its climax. The image before one’s

eyes at the beginning is that of a country lad, carried shoulder-high through the

streets of an English market town. At the end it is that of an Olympic victor, borne

garlanded to his pyre.

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The language change is paralleled with the changes in status of the athlete (Robb 250).

As seen, in the second procession the athlete proceeds to a young, yet honored death. The

death, since at such a young age is seen as unfulfilled potential. However, at the same

time Housman gives the athlete a type of immortality, and the athlete is a glamorous

name that is attributed to his early death (Robb 250).

Housman in his fifth stanza speaks to the athlete about the let downs of fame that

he will not live through:

Now you will not swell the rout

Of lads that wore their honors out,

Runners whom renown outran

And the name died before the man

Housman is bestowing a figurative laurel (the laurel was a wreath given to the victorious

athlete) upon the athlete not for his accomplishments, but for his victory to the grave.

Death is made to be a refuge from the pain and expectations of an athlete. The athlete in

“To an Athlete Dying Young” has escaped these expectations, and did it before his fame

was lost (Martin 249).

The most commonly agreed upon thing of A.E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying

Young” is that it is his most popular poem. Elements that create this popularity are seen

in other poems by Housman, but it is the way in which the poem speaks to the reader, and

draws on the emotions of the reader that make it memorable. Literary Critic Morton

Dauwen Zabel said it best in his 1940 Nation article “The Whole of Housman”

when he said, about Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young,” the following: “He

succeeds best of all when the repressed emotion becomes externalized…” Housman is

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using an elaborate word picture to exposes what he knew to be true, and that is that we all

want for our name to be eternal (Zabel 685).

Robert K. Martin says that “To an Athlete Dying Young” is the single most

famous poem written by Housman. He describes the poem as “one celebrating beauty and

grace.” He also attributes its success to Housman’s ability to allow reality to be

connected with the transitory. Martin goes further to compare this attribute of Housman’s

to one often used in the writing of Shakespeare (Martin 248).

Another aspect of “To an Athlete Dying Young” that is agreed upon by a few

critics is Housman’s use of irony within his poetry. Gordon B. Lea explains that he

believes this to be the source of negative criticism among other critics. It creates a

seemingly inconsistent cycle within Housman’s poetry, but it is in fact Housman’s way of

taking a morbid thought and turning it into a delightful one. An example of irony given

by Lea is that of death. Housman makes death an emanate fate for the athlete, but it is

something that is made desirable to the reader. Rather than death being the curse upon

man, life is described as the curse, and the athlete has escaped the curse by dying (Lea

191-192).

Robert K. Martin, while he does not verbally mention irony within his criticism,

does still support the idea that death is the desirable outcome in “To an Athlete Dying

Young.” He in fact takes it further and explains that the early-laureled-head is a picture

showing that the athlete is indeed the victorious one for dying (Martin 249)

An interpretation of the poem that is unique to Robert K. Martin is his idea that

the poem preserves love. He presents his idea in the following quote, comparing the

theme in the poem with one found in the works of Shakespeare: “The idea that art

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preserves by transforming love from the transitory realm of the real into the eternal world

of the imagination…is one of his most persistent themes.” Martin states that this is a

reoccurring theme within all of Housman’s poetry, not just in “To an Athlete Dying

Young” (Martin 248).

Martin continues by presenting another idea not mentioned by other critics. He

presents the idea that “To an Athlete Dying Young” was based upon early Greek poetry.

He specifically states that it is related to Pindar’s Olympian Odes. Pindar’s Odes focus on

the beauty and grace of an athlete when they reach a point of perfection. Once again

Martin compares the poem to Shakespeare’s sonnets in the aesthetic nature of both

(Martin 249).

Martin rather than seeing the death of the athlete as the final victory he claims that

the figure of the laurel bestows an eternal life to the athlete, by the means of his name

living forever. While the laurel is a key subject in “To an Athlete Dying Young” it is only

explained by Martin. Martin’s connection with the laurel is what allowed him to see the

connection between the poem and Pindar’s Odes. He ventures to say that the whole

meaning of the poem is based upon the understanding of such unstated references in the

poem, but chiefly that of the laurel. He then suggests that the poem is the laurel that

preserves the name of the athlete for an eternity. The Greek ideal of beauty was based

upon youth reaching its full potential. In the third stanza we see how quickly this peak

comes and goes:

And early though the laurel grows

It withers quicker than the rose.

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Housman is showing how short the beauty of the athlete is. This is emphasized in the

comparison with the rose, a flower with one of the shortest blooms. A peaking athlete and

a blooming rose are very close parallels (Martin 249).

I agree with the idea stated by Zabel that “To an Athlete Dying Young” is

Housman’s most popular poem because of the fact that it draws on the emotions of the

reader. I and many others understand the rigorous strains put upon an athlete, and the

short amount of time that one has to enjoy the glories of athletic competition. However,

one does not have to be an athlete to understand how short opportunities are in life. This

is an area of the poem that allows every person to form a connection with the poem,

causing it to appeal to a large audience.

Most of the major points of the poem were not disagreed upon by the critics, but

one that stood out to me is Martin’s connection with Pindar’s Olympian Odes. While I

believe that these may have been the main inspiration of “To an Athlete Dying Young” I

do not think that Housman wanted to model them completely. Housman included an

honored and desirable death by the athlete, contradicting the main theme within the Odes.

The Odes celebrate youth and beauty, while Housman celebrates death. While youthful

beauty is a present theme; it is not the main one. The most prominent victory of the

athlete is his death, and his procession to his grave is much greater than any after one of

his victories.

Finally, is the symbol of the laurel. I believe this to be a primary symbol of the

poem in that it praises the athlete one last time after his final victory. Martin would

suggest that the laurel gives the athlete an eternal life, but I think that it is a way for

Housman to glorify death. It is the death its self that makes the athlete’s name eternal.

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Note: This document is not properly cited. I could not find my original works

cited page. Everything in the document is accurate and given credit to the correct person,

I just could not find the exact citations.

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