Housman's "To An Athlete Dying Young"

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somber procession. The athlete is being carried
to his grave. In Leggett's opinion, "The parallels between this procession and
the former triumph are carefully drawn" (54). The reader should see that
Housman makes another reference to "shoulders" as an allusion to connect the
first two stanzas:

Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder high we bring you home,
And set you at the threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town. (967)

In stanza three Housman describes the laurel growing "early" yet dying "quicker
than a rose." (967) This parallels "the 'smart lad' who chose to 'slip betimes
away' at the height of his fame" (Explicator 188). Leggett's implication of
this parallel is "that death, too is a victory" (54). He should consider
himself lucky that he died in his prime and will not out live his fame. Housman
says:

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than ...

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A good example is that barely a word
contained in "To an Athlete Dying Young" consists of more than two syllables.
Because of Latin emulation, many hold Housmans' works to be too easy. As
Batesman notices, "English monosyllables, on the other hand, because of their
familiarity and trivial associations, tend to vulgarize and sentimentize
whatever experience they are trying to describe" (144). Housman's attempt to
reproduce a Latin-patterned verse posts the problem Dr. Samuel Johnson referred
to in his "Life of Dryden":

Words too familiar or too remote defeat the
purpose of a poet. From sound which we hear on
small or coarse occasions we do not easily ...

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