An Athlete Dying Young Essay -- Death, Life, Diet, Afterlife

Surprisingly, the first message from â€Å"To an Athlete Dying Young† is how important pride is to an athlete. Winning is the name of the game in any sport which requires a certain level of competiveness that in turn creates lots of pride. Being the winner of any competition gives a person something to brag about and show of to others which is what most people would call pride. Well, what would an athlete do if his pride faded away but he was still doing well? This is the question that Housman answers in his poem. He uses exactly one stanza to say these lines, â€Å"Now you will not swell the rout/ Of lads that wore their honors out/ Runners whom renown outran/ And the name died before the man.† (A.E Housman pg. 1092 lines. 17-20) First off he says that an athlete who dies young will not have to be with the men who wore their honors our, and neither will he have to worry about his pride dying before he does. It’s exactly like that high school quarter back who sti ll talks about that one throw that won the state championship game. This is harsh to say, but h... ... middle of paper ... ...at moment the record was broke and die a life focused on regret. So, basically an unbroken record means an unbroken heart and that equals a happy death. In conclusion, Housman related these three messages of dying a very happy person, your people will take you to your home, and pride is an important thing to an athlete by connecting them all to the fact of life which is death. He said that as long as an athlete can die before their record is broken then they will be able to die a happy person remembering the cheers of their fans. Even if they didn’t set records they could die with pride by dying before their reputation or honor stopped running. Lastly, Housman was able to say that no matter how or when you die, your people will take you to your grave shoulder high so if that is the case then an athlete should wish to die young so they may be happy when death comes.