"To An Athlete Dying Young" -Housman

The author's PURPOSE in this poem is

• to mock the people for over-idolizing the athlete who died young

• to comfort the villagers feeling sorrow over the athlete's death

• to criticize those responsible for the poor athlete's early death

• to create a sense of comedy and lighten the overall gloomy situation

Which statement is the BEST summary of the fourth and fifth stanzas (lines 13-20) of this poem?

• Like the athlete, all of us will be forgotten after our death.

• Because the athlete has died, his records will be broken and people will forget his name.

• Because the athlete has died, he will never see his record broken nor his fame diminished.

• Even though the athlete has died, he will look down from Heaven and bless other athletes whose fame comes after him.

Which phrases in this poem convey and elegiac TONE?

• "And early though the laurel grows"

• "round that early-laurel-head" and "smart lad"

• "withers quicker than the rose" and "runners whom renown outran"

• "townsman of a stiller town" and "fleet foot on the sill of shade"

What is emphasized by the word "stiller" to describe the town in stanza two?

• that the town the athlete is going to is boring

• that the town the athlete is going to is made is stone

• that the town is slow compared to the speed of the athlete

• that the dead athlete is leaving a living town for the town of the dead

Which BEST expresses how this passage alludes to a UNIVERSAL THEME?

• Housman uses vivid and gory descriptions to express disdain for death

• Housman uses a metaphor comparing life to a race we all ultimately lose

• Housman uses vivid and positive descriptions of athletes to glorify a heroic death

• Housman uses a metaphor comparing athletes to lonely runners on a long and solitary road