To an athlete dying young
...d age just to see all their accomplishments fade and become meaningless to everyone. “To an Athlete Dying Young” takes place at a young champion runner’s funeral or possibly before the funeral at the memorial service. In the first stanza, the poem starts by the speaker reflecting on the time the champion runner won the town race, and he was greatly celebrated and carried home “shoulder-high.” The tone of the poem starts as one of pride and celebration in the remembrance of the great win, but the tone shifts quickly in the transition from the first stanza to the second to a more solemn and depressing tone. In line five, “Today, the road all runners come,” (5) the speaker Dying young is thought to be one of the most tragic of circumstances. The thoughts of lives wasted, dreams unattained, memories never conceived. It is sad fate uncontrollable by any earthly being. Most people desire to live to a ripe old age as to take full advantage of their time on earth, to experience as much as they can, and would be aghast to have premature death be viewed in a positive light. Yet this thought is the driving force behind "...