To An Athlete Dying Young

A Shropshire Lad

XIX Q
To An Athlete Dying Young C
V The time you won your town the race
V We chaired you through the market-place;
V Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
To-day, the road all runners come, 5 Q
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
V Smart lad, to slip betimes away
V From fields where glory does not stay, 10
V And early though the laurel grows
V It withers quicker than the rose.
V Eyes the shady night has shut Q
V Cannot see the record cut, C
V And silence sounds no worse than cheers 15
V After earth has stopped the ears:
V Now you will not swell the rout
V Of lads that wore their honours out,
V Runners whom renown outran Q
V And the name died before the man. 20
V So set, before the echoes fade,
V The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
V And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
V And round that early-laurelled head 25
V Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
V And find unwithered on its curls
V The garland briefer than a girl’s.
Key: V: Textual Variation. C: Commentary. Q: Question. Glossary

 

ASL XVIII “To An Athlete Dying Young”

Top ▲ Glossary

Line Word Glossary
11 laurel 1. A small evergreen tree that grows in southern Europe and has glossy aromatic leaves and dark purple or black berries.
2. The leaves of the laurel woven into a wreath and used as a mark of honor or victory in ancient times, for example, to crown the winners of athletic events
17 rout 1. A noisy and disorganized group of people

 

Top ▲ Commentary

Line Commentary
Date: Date: March / April 1895 (1st Draft), April/May 1895 (2nd Draft)
Title Critical opinion concerning the inspiration of this poem is divided. AEH wrote in 1898 that Moses Jackson, “in his youth was something of an athlete, and won the Quarter-Mile Challenge Cup at the London athletics Club in 1885.” He also affirmed, in the dedicatory poem of his edition of Manilius (Sodali Meo M. I. Iackson) that Jackson was his “greatest friend” who had “more influence on my life than anyone else” and that he was “largely responsible for my writing poetry”. They met as undergraduates in Oxford (1877) and later shared accommodation in Oxford and London. In 1885, “probably after an altercation” (Burnett, Commentary to Last Poems XXIV: p392: The Poems of A E Housman), they decided to live apart, Jackson moving to India two years later. The general biographical opinion is that AEH had very strong, platonic feelings for Jackson, which were unreciprocated. However, Jackson did not die until 1923; this had led some critics to believe that AEH was inspired by a newspaper obituary of someone not personally known to Housman – as ASL XLIV, (‘Shot? so quick, so clean and ending’) was influenced by the suicide of a young military cadet. Burnett concludes his commentary, “MJJ [Jackson] need not have died young to inspire the poem, however, and remains the most obvious source.” (Ibid, p333)
14 “cut” ie the record is broken / beaten
Metre Four line stanzas of normally eight syllables (iambic quatrameter), rhymed as couplets.

 

Top ▲ Variations

Line Text Textual variation
1 d1 time] <day>
1 d2 your] <the>
2 d1 <They> We chaired you <in> \ through / the market-place
3 d1 Man and boy] <And while the crowd> \ < [?Where] market-folk
9 d1 Smart] Wise
9 d1 slip] steal
9 d2 Smart lad,] Wise lad, \ Well done, / →
10 d1 glory does] victory will
10 d2 victory \ glory / will
11 d2 <And glory for the runner braids> → And early though the laurel grows
12 d2 <A chaplet briefer than a maid’s> It withers sooner \ lasts no <longer> better / than <the> \ a / rose
13 d1 Shut [?your eyes and keep] them shut → Now the eye that night has shut
13 D2d1 <He> \ The man / whose eye the night has shut → Eyes the shady \ cloudy / night has shut
13 D2d2 <Now the eye that> \ Eyes the cloudy / night has shut
13 D2d3 Eyes the night has filled with smoke
14 d1 Cannot see the] And never see your
14 D2d1 <Never sees his record cut> → Never \ Will never / see the record cut
14 D2d2 Will never see the record cut
14 D2d3 <Never> \ Will never / see the record broke [ → Cannot see the record cut ]
15 D2d1 sounds no worse than] <is the same as>
16 D2d2 After] <Now that>
16 D2d1 the] <his>
17 D2d1 <And> <n> Now you will \ <have> / \ shall / not joined \ <swelled> / \ swell / the throng No fear you now should join the throng
17 D2d2 Now you will not] No fear you now should \ <Now you’ll never>
18 D2d1 wore their honours out] lived \ stayed / a <day> \ spell / too long
19 D1 Runners] Of runners
20 D1 And] \ <Or> /
20 D1 died] die<s>d
21 D1 So now with ribboned breast invade <So, now with laurel<s> undecayed> \ <before the laurels fade> / \ <unbeaten, unafraid> / , \ So set, before its echoes fade, /
22 D1 First in the race, \ Unbeaten yet, / the sill of shade, → <Set foot upon> \ The fleet foot on / the sill of shade
23 D1 low] <dark>
25 D1 that early-laurelled] your early-laurelled \ that young and laurelled /
25 D2d2 that]<your>
26 D1 flock to gaze] throng to gaze \ come and gaze /
27 D1 find unwithered on] yet unfaded round
28 D1 The] \ <Your> /
28 D1 garland] garland<s>

 

Top ▲ Questions

Line Question
5 How does the poet develop the contrast between the last time that the athlete was carried home shoulder-high and when that happens again, “To-day“?
13 Why do you think the poet changed the word “cloudy” from the drafts to “shady” in the final version?
13-14 It is clear from the drafts that Housman experimented a great deal with these lines. Consider the alternatives suggested in the drafts:

a. Shut your eyes and keep them shut
And never see your record cut
b. Now the eye that night has shut
Never sees his record cut
c. He / The man whose eye the night has shut
Will never see the record cut
d. Eyes the night has filled with smoke

Will never see the record broke

What are the merits of each and how is the final line, “Eyes the shady night has shut,” superior to the others?
17 Why do you think the poet returned in the final version to the word “swell“, which was replaced with “join” after the first draft? What different ideas does the word suggest?
17-18 Once again, consider the possible alternatives to these lines, formed from the various drafts:

a. Now you have not joined the throng

Of those who lived a day too long
b. No fear you now should join the throng
Of those who stayed a spell / too long
c. Now you’ll never join the throng
Of those who stayed a spell too long

What are the merits of each and how is the final line, “Now you will not swell the rout,” superior to the others?
19 The poet removes the repetition of the word “Of” at the beginning of the line and thereby shortens it by one syllable. What is the effect on the meaning and tone of this two-fold change?
Whole poem This poem is one of a number that consider the untimely or early death of youth. What message do you think this particular poem carries?