“To An Athlete Dying Young” is about a close friend who died at a young age. A.E Housman uses a poem structure to express his emotions. The whole poem is about how he was carried to his grave and was shoulder high. Based upon that this would be considered non - fiction. The audience he is telling this poem to is to his close friend that dies, and is wanting others to see his emotions. It depends on the perspective that you have. You can think that it means that they celebrated him and the accomplishments that he did, like he just won a race. You could also think of it as he died and now they are upset, but are still celebrating his life. For example, in line six it states how the road runners brought him him shoulder high. I thought that this…
The two terms together create a sports haiku; sports haiku is a poem that expresses the game it illustrates through verse in a unique way. Though there are not many authors or books which focus mainly on sports haiku, there are numerous haiku poems about sports. Baseball is by far the most popular sport that poets write about in haiku. Baseball seems to be a more popular choice given that it’s outdoors, and last through three seasons (spring, summer, and fall.) This is crucial as the emphasis of nature in haiku is vital to its expression and impression on the reader. The primary purpose of baseball haiku is to express memories, experience, and the nature of the game it reflects upon. This paper will illustrate these characteristics and also…
A.E. Housman’s emotional poem, “To an Athlete Dying Young,” appears to present a solemn farewell to any young athlete who dies young in the modern age. The speaker seems to be giving his last goodbye to the town athlete whether they are the star or the benchwarmer of the team it allows the reader to feel more attached to this character that the speaker is painting. Housman carefully crafts a depressing yet loving final goodbye to all the athletes or stars of the world that die young, and then shows briefly how life is after they’re gone.…
It was incredible to see the channeling of so much effort and focus result in the exact achievement I had aimed for. As great a feeling as it was to have accomplished something I had dreamed of, it was far from completely satisfying. It was not long before the glory of one good championship race was erased and replaced with the anticipation of the next. Running has shown me that the only limits holding me back are the ones I entertain. My capabilities are in fact limitless and I can achieve anything I set my mind to.…
As I ran that hill I began to cry because of the pain. I thought my legs were going to give out from underneath me. The pain I was feeling helped me take a few strides that caused me to stumble a little, but soon regained my composure. I was at the top. All that was left was one last final turn, and then the downhill. I could see the finish line in the distance and then started sprinting. Coach Rojas was screaming at me to keep going and not to stop. At this point, my heart was pounding rapidly. My body was worn down, hot and exhausted. Crossing the finish line was the only thing on my mind. For a moment, I blocked off from the race and thought about all the hard work that went into the season. I crossed the finish line and at that moment I knew that I had put my sweat and tears into this race. I couldn’t feel my legs, all I wanted was water. Soon after I heard that we won Second place in the district which was the best the team has won. I felt no pain at this point since I was part of a group of people who loved this sport and put effort into it. It gave me happiness to be part of a team that now was like my…
Although “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman and “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike are both about the reflection of honorary greatness achieved in their lives as athletes, the speakers possess different views and attitudes towards their characters in each poem. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” the speaker shares a positive reflection of the characters accomplishments that takes place due to the death of that character dying at a young age: “To-day, the road all runners come, / Shoulder-high we bring you home, /And set you at your threshold down, /Townsman of a stiller town.” (“Athlete”5-8). In “Ex-Basketball Player” John Updike speaker reflects upon Flick Webb’s past…
A.E. Housman was a poet born in 1859 who became very successful during his lifetime. “To an Athlete Dying Young” represents the theme of glory is fleeting by illustrating the point that if a successful athlete dies young, they will not have to worry about their glory of victory fading. They can rest in peace knowing they will be remembered at their athletic peak when they were successful and victorious. They will not have to go through the pain of watching their fame disappear or whither out with time. In this poetic masterpiece, Housman pulls together figurative language, sound devices, and structure to illustrate that glory is fleeting through a majestic poem that will be remembered for many years.…
The mantra, "breathe in your nose and out your mouth," was the only thing running through my head as I attempted to complete the last half mile of my first cross-country meet, and at least it was running. I on the other hand, was not. I had started the race completely confident in my ability to run three miles, but after a grueling two and a half laps of tripping over tree roots, splashing through mud, and struggling over an enormous hill that marked the last quarter of the lap, I was just ready to go home and take a shower. When my feet crossed onto the threshold of the track where the finish line was positioned, I observed quite a few things. One, the conspicuous red timer was flashing numbers well into the mid-forties range. Two, at least half of the buses in the parking lot seemed long gone. My third and final realization did not occur to me until after I crossed the finish line. As I came to a stop near the water cooler, it finally dawned on me that I had concluded the race in last place.…
I get halfway to the other end of the pool. I start to feel my lower half start to droop in the water. I say happy words like “I can do it” or “almost there!” The words pump me up for only a short bit of time. But then the words get drowned out. I get to the wall and do my last flip turn. I push off the wall and start my strokes…
I felt like such a looser I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t because everyone had their eyes on me feeling like a dam about to burst. This was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life as I was on that track. I was about to walk off the turf and not finish, but then I started to he rhythmic clap from the audience and I knew it was for me. At that moment I started to jog to finish line. I had two forces fighting within me one wanting me to give up and there wanting to keep going forward and not letting people down. If the audience can put the effort to cheer me on, the least I can do is finish. I finally finish and I have never been so happy to finish something in my life.…
I kept my eyes trained on my feet. Heat clouded my brain. I felt a strong pull over me to stop, to slow down or even take a short cut. More than anything, I wanted to wander into a ditch, curl up and pity myself. I thought about my goal- thirty minutes or under- which, to other girls on our team would be an easy feat. I thought about how proud I would be if I finished. The lactic acid in my thighs overcame me, and I began to walk. My feet dragged on the ground in protest, feeling like my grandmother's needlepoint. I cursed myself continuously. Girls who were behind me started to pass. The many ahead became specks of dust in my line of vision. A tsunami washed over me and gathered behind my eyes. The mysterious tidal wave overcame me as I sunk into the seabed, drowning in…
I felt like I had never run this fast, ever in my life. The pain was filling my legs; it felt like it was going to break them but all I wanted to was to slow down. However, nothing was going to slow me down no matter what happened. I could feel my hair flying behind me everywhere. My knees driving high up, and my feet moved fast across the track. I kept speeding up more and more, even though my entire body felt like falling apart. My entire chest was aching in pain, and it seemed like I could not even feel my legs. I was at the point of crying with pain, but I sped up even more because I knew this was only going to last for few more seconds. The finish line was only a few feet away, and I was pushing myself so hard, I felt like I was going to fall. With only one step, there was a moment where I was falling, but took the step and plunged myself for an end. I had felt like I had finally reached my goal for once in my life. Even though every part of my body was aching, I felt so much happier with myself than I had ever felt before. I looked around and felt content with…
I took one last look at the bedlam of water crashing inches away from me before I took my first step up the slippery rock. After making my way to the top of the waterfall and then staring down my possible death directly in the eyes. I took a deep breath and make my final courageous act. Leaped of the wet stone, soared through the sky as if i was an eagle, free falled for just over two seconds and then breaking through the smooth surface of the water. It felt like the most amazing thing in the world, courage.…
Why can’t they get their head out of the cloud and start making the rinks loud?…
Although swimming is commonly known for being an event in the Olympic games, the activity of swimming has existed way before our time.…