To an Athlete Dying Young

To an Athlete Dying Young Title What do the words of the title suggest to you? What denotations are presented? What connotations or associations do the words possess?

Paraphrase Translate the poem in your own words. What is the poem about?

Connotation What meaning does the poem have beyond the literal meaning?

Form • To an Athlete Dying Young • the expression of a deeply felt emotion or personal response. The tone of a lyric poem is frequently expressed as reflective. • expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has died a lyric poem. Because it praises an athlete who died young, the poem may be further classified as an elegy.

Diction • The time you won your town the raceWe chaired you through the market-place; • Smart lad, to slip betimes away • And early though the laurel growsIt withers quicker than the rose • Now you will not swell the rout Language – word choice, style that contributes to tone FORMAL language MODERN style, with particular and emotive language

Imagery • We chaired you through the market-place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high • Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town. • And early though the laurel growsIt withers quicker than the rose. • Eyes the shady night has shutCannot see the record cutSo set, before its echoes fade, The fleet foot on the sill of shade, And hold to the low lintel upThe still-defended challenge-cup Visualization using metaphors, allusions, descriptive words and similes amongst other literary forms

Point of View • We chaired you through the market-place; • Shoulder-high we bring you home, First person

Details • market-place • Man and boy • the road all runners come • Townsman information (including descriptive, illustrative, and statistical information) that supports an idea or contributes to an overall impression

Allusions • Eyes the shady night has shut • on the sill of shade • that early-laurelled head • The garland briefer than a girl's refers to a subject matter such as a place, event, or literary work by way of a passing reference. It is up to the reader to make a connection to the subject being mentioned.

Symbolism • the road all runners come • From fields where glory does not stay • the laurel growsIt withers quicker than the rose. • The still-defended challenge-cup • The garland an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning

Figurative Language Alliteration Metaphor Simile Onomatopoeia Personification Hyperbole Idiom

Other Devices • Eyes the shady night has shutCannot see the record cut, • The fleet foot Catalexis Synecdoche

Attitude a mixture of objectivity and metaphor, that is, [Housman] speaks of things as they are while also speaking of things or events in order to mean something else. http://hokku.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/elegy-to-an-athlete-dying-young/ Mournful, with a cynical edge “smart lad” to escape living beyond fame

Shifts • The time you won your town the raceWe chaired you through the market-place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day,… • Smart lad, to slip betimes awayFrom fields where glory does not stay • So set, before its echoes fade, The fleet foot on the sill of shade From past to present From objective to opinion, paradox view From regret to acceptance and action

To an Athlete Dying Young transience of life Even the ‘elite’ in society are levelled by death

Theme Life is for living well; in death all that remains of anyone is the memories of the living for that person. Develop: only the good die young

To an Athlete Dying Young