Glory is fleeting. This expression means no matter how popular or famous someone gets, their fame and glory do not last. According to A. E. Housman’s, “To an Athlete Dying Young”, he illustrates how precious life is and how people tend to remember public figures of great promise that dies young. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young” uses metaphor throughout the entire poem to illustrate the Athlete’s glory and his view on death. The poem reveals the concept of dying at the peak of their glory, lives forever in the minds of people who remember the athlete at their prime time. Athletes during their prime time are usually faster, energetic, and spontaneous. Hence, people will recognize the Athlete’s fame and glory. But life in later years
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In the introduction, the athlete wins the race, and the townspeople carry him home on their shoulder, while everyone cheers for him. Like what most teams do when they celebrate their win. Housman uses alliteration as a figure of speech to capture the audience’s attention. For example, in line 1, “The time you won your town the race.” And line 5, road all runners.” Second through the fifth stanza, Housman uses metaphor as a figure of speech. He uses metaphors on: Line 8, “Stiller town”, he compares the cemetery to a town. Line 10, “Fields where glory does not stay”, compares the glory to a person that leaves the field. Lastly, line 13, “Eyes the shady night has shut”, compares the fame to an athlete. In those stanzas, Houseman explains why the athlete is thought to be “smart” to die young before his glory has the chance to fade. He leaves behind an unchallenged cup, where the award has not been won by anyone after his race. The word “race” in this poem has more than one meaning. Race could mean running in a sport, or trying to get things done within a given time frame, or trying to get things done before death. In between the lines, he wants the audience to think that as people grow older, our lives gets dull and tiresome. Therefore, it is “smart” to die before his glory ends. He illustrates that the laurel (the symbol of victory) fades faster than the rose (a symbol of a life span on a living …show more content…
Some young people who achieve glory, but learns it is too late, overestimates its importance. Maybe, the only way a person can capture fame and glory, and make it last, is to die young after achieving greatness; based on the Housman poem. Housman’s theme was an unexpected death which is uncertain. The contradiction shows that while life is unstable, short, and temporary, the poem reflected the ideal of the certainty in the world. Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” is about starting a coal furnace on a cold morning and shining a pair of shoes, but the son’s regret that he never took the time to thank his father. Hayden used metonymy as a substitution of the name of an attribute for that of the thing meant. It details the father’s tireless efforts at providing for his family with little regard for himself. Hayden presented the memories of how his father helped him, expressed his love and concerns for him though his actions. Like our parents, they did the same for us. They bathe us, fed us, and placed a roof over our heads. But once in a while, we took advantage of it, and forgot to appreciate and say thank you to our parents. Maybe that’s how the main character feels in the
In the introduction, the athlete wins the race, and the townspeople carry him home on their shoulder, while everyone cheers for him. Like what most teams do when they celebrate their win. Housman uses alliteration as a figure of speech to capture the audience’s attention. For example, in line 1, “The time you won your town the race.” And line 5, road all runners.” Second through the fifth stanza, Housman uses metaphor as a figure of speech. He uses metaphors on: Line 8, “Stiller town”, he compares the cemetery to a town. Line 10, “Fields where glory does not stay”, compares the glory to a person that leaves the field. Lastly, line 13, “Eyes the shady night has shut”, compares the fame to an athlete. In those stanzas, Houseman explains why the athlete is thought to be “smart” to die young before his glory has the chance to fade. He leaves behind an unchallenged cup, where the award has not been won by anyone after his race. The word “race” in this poem has more than one meaning. Race could mean running in a sport, or trying to get things done within a given time frame, or trying to get things done before death. In between the lines, he wants the audience to think that as people grow older, our lives gets dull and tiresome. Therefore, it is “smart” to die before his glory ends. He illustrates that the laurel (the symbol of victory) fades faster than the rose (a symbol of a life span on a living …show more content…
Some young people who achieve glory, but learns it is too late, overestimates its importance. Maybe, the only way a person can capture fame and glory, and make it last, is to die young after achieving greatness; based on the Housman poem. Housman’s theme was an unexpected death which is uncertain. The contradiction shows that while life is unstable, short, and temporary, the poem reflected the ideal of the certainty in the world. Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” is about starting a coal furnace on a cold morning and shining a pair of shoes, but the son’s regret that he never took the time to thank his father. Hayden used metonymy as a substitution of the name of an attribute for that of the thing meant. It details the father’s tireless efforts at providing for his family with little regard for himself. Hayden presented the memories of how his father helped him, expressed his love and concerns for him though his actions. Like our parents, they did the same for us. They bathe us, fed us, and placed a roof over our heads. But once in a while, we took advantage of it, and forgot to appreciate and say thank you to our parents. Maybe that’s how the main character feels in the