To An Athlete Dying Young Figurative Language Essay
A poem is a form of literature that has been around in the world for a long time. Poems can bring people together, provide a way to let people express themselves, as well as tell stories before written documentation was invented. To express themselves better the poet can use figurative language to improve how the poem effects the reader. By using figurative language, the poet can further extend his or her emotions and feelings to the reader. By extending the poet’s emotion, a poem can reach the heart of the reader and give him or her a closer tie to the subject matter that the poet is trying to discuss. A. E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young” uses figurative language to further convey the poems theme of the death of an athlete who died
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The poem doesn’t tell a story, but also keeps focus on the theme of dying in one’s prime. To get this theme across, throughout the whole poem uses an inverted sequence is used. This form of writing gives the poem a more melodic feeling to it. The melodic feel that the poems produces is able to convey its theme in a less harsh but impactful manor. In the seventh and eighth line of the poem Housman writes, “And set you at your threshold down, / Townsman of a stiller town” (8). That stiller town represents the Dead and those who have already been deceased. This is important because it signifies his final journey as well as his final lap as he’s joining those athletes who had become deceased which also refers to the line five when Housman writes, “Today, the road all runners come” (5). This line talks about how all athletes are going to die eventually. when it says all the road all runners come it is talking about the inevitability of everyone’s death. In line 25 and 26 Housman writes, “And round that early-laurelled head / Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,” (25-26). Those two lines are saying that because he still had his glory when he died he will have glory forever, even though the athlete died in his
The poem doesn’t tell a story, but also keeps focus on the theme of dying in one’s prime. To get this theme across, throughout the whole poem uses an inverted sequence is used. This form of writing gives the poem a more melodic feeling to it. The melodic feel that the poems produces is able to convey its theme in a less harsh but impactful manor. In the seventh and eighth line of the poem Housman writes, “And set you at your threshold down, / Townsman of a stiller town” (8). That stiller town represents the Dead and those who have already been deceased. This is important because it signifies his final journey as well as his final lap as he’s joining those athletes who had become deceased which also refers to the line five when Housman writes, “Today, the road all runners come” (5). This line talks about how all athletes are going to die eventually. when it says all the road all runners come it is talking about the inevitability of everyone’s death. In line 25 and 26 Housman writes, “And round that early-laurelled head / Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,” (25-26). Those two lines are saying that because he still had his glory when he died he will have glory forever, even though the athlete died in his