“To an Athlete Dying Young” starts with a story-line in second person, making it more intriguing and easier to follow. Housman also wrote it with an AABB rhyme scheme, which made the poem more attractive to read and analyze. The first stanza is written in the past tense about an athlete winning a race. The second stanza is when a turning point occurs. “Shoulder-high we bring you home” (“Athlete” 6) is a mirror image from the first stanza, but has a contrasting meaning. The athlete is now dead, so they are carrying him shoulder-high (in his casket) to his “home,” as in his permanent resting place-his grave. “Townsman of a stiller town.” (“Athlete” 8) is where you can definitively see the athlete is dead. The athlete becomes a townsman of a quiet
