- Houseman's poems are often about dying young. How does he approach the topic here? How would you describe the tone?
Housman approaches the topic by reminiscing on the good times of the athlete winning his hometown the race. In most cases it would be fair to expect that a poem about someone dying at a young age would have a sad tone. Houseman takes a different outlook on the topic and turns it into a happy toned poem. Houseman creates a positive tone from the beginning of a poem that would usually have a sad tone.
- This is one of Houseman's most well-known poems. What accounts for its popularity and timelessness? What is the author describing by the first and second uses of the phrase "shoulder high," in the first and second stanza?
A.E Houseman …show more content…
Why?
Even without knowing the title of this poem it would be very easy to determine that this poem was written to an athlete. In the first stanza it talks about the time of the athlete winning the town the race and being chaired through the market place while on the shoulders of the cheering people. In the fifth stanza the author talks about a runners name dying before the runner even died. The details from these stanzas alone would give you the thought that the poem was written about an athlete.
- What aspects of this poem are unusual in a poem about death?
In most poems death is usually looked at from a negative aspect and has a more depressive outlook. It is unusual that a poem about death would be looked at from a positive aspect. In this poem the author makes it seem to be a good thing to die young. The author strongly implies that that it would be better to die in one’s glory days than to live out a long life watching those times slip away. From the view of the author it would be better to die before watching the records one has set be tarnished or broken by another. In most cases poems about death have a negative aspect and could give a feeling of
Housman approaches the topic by reminiscing on the good times of the athlete winning his hometown the race. In most cases it would be fair to expect that a poem about someone dying at a young age would have a sad tone. Houseman takes a different outlook on the topic and turns it into a happy toned poem. Houseman creates a positive tone from the beginning of a poem that would usually have a sad tone.
- This is one of Houseman's most well-known poems. What accounts for its popularity and timelessness? What is the author describing by the first and second uses of the phrase "shoulder high," in the first and second stanza?
A.E Houseman …show more content…
Why?
Even without knowing the title of this poem it would be very easy to determine that this poem was written to an athlete. In the first stanza it talks about the time of the athlete winning the town the race and being chaired through the market place while on the shoulders of the cheering people. In the fifth stanza the author talks about a runners name dying before the runner even died. The details from these stanzas alone would give you the thought that the poem was written about an athlete.
- What aspects of this poem are unusual in a poem about death?
In most poems death is usually looked at from a negative aspect and has a more depressive outlook. It is unusual that a poem about death would be looked at from a positive aspect. In this poem the author makes it seem to be a good thing to die young. The author strongly implies that that it would be better to die in one’s glory days than to live out a long life watching those times slip away. From the view of the author it would be better to die before watching the records one has set be tarnished or broken by another. In most cases poems about death have a negative aspect and could give a feeling of