To an Athlete Dying Young

To an Athlete Dying Young CasildoCasillas AqeelMohamed Ivan Hernandez Joel Tinorio Jennifer Lopez By A.E. Housman

Biography • Alfred Edward Housman was born in March 26, 1859 in Worcestershire . • Housman was the eldest of seven children, and his mother died from cancer when he was just 12 years old. • By age thirteen he became a deist, and a few years later became an atheist all his life. • Housman’s brother Laurence and sister Clemence Housman also became writers. • In 1877 he won a scholarship to St. John’s College, Oxford. • For the next eleven years he worked as a clerk at a Patent Office. • He studied Greek and Roman classics. • During 1903-1930 he edited the works of Marcus Manilius .(first century Roman astronomer)

Biography • At Oxford he fell in love with Moses Jackson. Housman was gay, but Jackson wasn’t. • It is believed that Housman wrote Last Poems for Jackson, who read it before he died in 1922. • Housman died on April 30, 1936, in Cambridge, England. • Housman was buried in Ludlow, England. His works were not forgotten after his passing, a Housman Society was dedicated to him in England and dozens of composers, set his poems to their music. • Houseman wrote the poem during World War 1 while young boys were leaving there youth at home, so young men were leaving there youth at home and to give life away at home.

Vocabulary • Laurel – a tree or plant that was made into a wreath to crow the winners. • Swell – to expand above the normal level. • Fleet – to pass away swiftly; to disappear. • Threshold – a piece of timber supporting a house wall. • Lintel – the piece above a door that holds the structure above it. • Rout – any overwhelming defeat. • Withers – to fade, decay or to loose freshness.

Structure • Contains 7 stanzas with 14 couplets. • The rhyme scheme is AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH II JJ KK LL MM NN. • The first two lines are an example of an Iambic Tetrameter because it has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. • Lines 13 and 14 are an example of trochaic tetrameter because it is stressed unstressed.

Figures of Speech (Alliteration) • Line 1 – The timeyou won your town the race • Line 5 – Road all runners • Line 8 – Townsman of a stiller town • Line 22 – fleet foot

Figures of Speech (Metaphors) • Line 8: Stiller town – it is comparing a cemetery to a town • Line 10: Fields where glory does not say – It compares glory to people who leave the field • Line 13: Eyes the shady night has shut – Compares glory to night • Line 19: Runners who renown outran – It compares the fame to an athlete

Figures of Speech • Line 14 – silence sounds • Synecdoche– Line 22: Fleet foot on the still of shade – Foot represents the entire body. • Tone: sorrow or lamenting.

Positive words • Line 1: won • Line 2: chaired • Line 3: cheering • Line 11: laurel • Line 19: renown • Line 24: challenge cup • Line 25: laurelled • Line 27: unwither

Negative Words • Line 9: slipped • Line 10: glory does not stay • Line 12: withers • Line 13: night • Line 14: cut • Line 15: silence, worst • Line 16: stopped • Line 18: out of honor • Line 20: died • Line 21: fade • Line 26: dead

Quiz! Good Luck   • Houseman’s mother died of _______ when he was ___ years old. • Houseman stopped writing after _____ ______ died. • The rhyme scheme of An Athlete Dying Young is A)AABB B)ABBA C)ABAB D)No rhyme scheme. • How many couplets does the poem contain? • Line 10: “From fields where glory does not stay,” is an example of what? • Line 15 “Silence sounds” is an example of what ? • What does the laurel symbolize? • True or False: The poem is written in iambic pentameter. • In line 12 the author states “Smart lad to slip betimes away.” What does that mean? • Townsmen of a stiller form is comparing ______ to _____.

To an Athlete Dying Young