Poetry Analysis: "To an Athlete Dying Young"

“To an Athlete Dying Young,” by A. E. Holston is about dying at a young age. In the first two stanzas the athlete was brought home “shoulder-high,” although, in the first stanza is was because he had won a race. In the second stanza is was because he was being carried home in his coffin. In the middle of the poem, the author is telling the athlete that his was a “smart lad,” to die when he did because he will never have to see his record broke or see his glory face. Although I am sure the narrator is not happy the athlete has died. The last stanza is stating how the athlete will still be and running in heaven in the line, “And round that early-laureled head will flock to gaze the strengthless dead.”