`To an Athlete Dying Young` by A. E. Housman

A . E . Housman 's To An Athlete Dying Young ' is part of his series of poems collected in his book , A Shropshire Lad . It is set during the funeral march of a young and victorious runner who died at the height of his career . The speaker is one of the pallbearers , who recounts the athlete 's victory and philosophizes on the timeliness of his death . As with the rest of the book , this poem resounds with the melancholic themes of death and dying in youth . To be more specific , this poem describes how

it is best to die young and at the peak of one 's career in for one 's memory and legacy to be forever etched in the minds of the people . Though Housman 's exhortation might seem to be bing on the macabre , it rings true : glory , fortune , and fame are all fleeting

The poem starts by depicting the victory of the runner and how he became the source of pride in his town : The time you won your town the race We chaired you through the market-place ' The image of chairing shows how the townspeople carried the runner on their shoulders and paraded him in the market-place . The market setting is important , as it depicts a place where people of all ages and social status converge . It is a testament to the runner 's achievement and how it was able to bring together different people together in his victory . As they were carrying him on his shoulder , Man and boy stood cheering by / And home we brought [him] shoulder-high ' The last line of the first stanza foreshadows what would happen as the poem progressed . Carrying him shoulder-high not only indicates how he was chaired by the townspeople but also foreshadows how his coffin would be carried at the same shoulder-high level as he is brought to his tomb . Also , home could be read two ways given the foreshadowing : home as in his physical house and home as in his final resting place . In this manner , the speaker draws a connection between his victory and his death , and how , in both instances , he would be carried by the shoulders to be brought home

In the second stanza , the procession takes a sudden turn from one of gaiety and victory to one of sadness and melancholy , as this time , they are no longer celebrating but sending the athlete to his grave Shoulders ' and house ' again are mentioned , paralleling that of the first stanza albeit taken on a somber tone . The procession takes place on the the road all runners come ' a metaphor for the road of life that everyone travels . Another metaphor makes an appearance to further the sober theme : once the athlete has been brought home ' he becomes a townsman of a stiller town ' The stiller town ' here refers not only to the cemetery at which he is buried but to the idea that he is resting in peace , that he has accepted his death . Again...