To An Athlete Dying Young

“Die Young and Die Happy” In “To An Athlete Dying Young,” A.E. Housman appears to be congratulating the athlete whose fate has permitted him to die at a young age. The speaker views premature death in a positive light, by calling the dead athlete a “smart lad” (Barnet, Sylvan, et all, line 8) for dying as a champion and not remaining in the “fields where glory does not stay” (9). Although the young athlete faced death …

…he or she has grown old and have the people that once praised the athlete be deceased, meaning that the person’s funeral would be diminished in size and would become a funeral of an unknown person. Instead, when reading Housman’s poem, “To An Athlete Dying Young” he was able to make the reader view Shepley 5 the death in a positive light. The athlete died without the taste of defeat; he died a champion!