To an athlete dying young poem summary?

Answer 1

Literally, the poem illustrates the story of an athlete loved and admired by all, famous throughout the village. However, it then goes on to describe the fleeting nature of fame and talent itself, as the "silence sounds no worse that cheers/ after earth has stopped the ears." This would imply that the people who once admired him are no longer cheering- his period of fame has expired, as it does for everyone once in the limelight. Their names died before the man, in that their fame has faded as they grow old and their talent disappears- their names will never be remembered once they are gone. "Runners whom renown outran" is a personification of the word "renown," a noun meaning fame or reverence. This would imply that he is constantly running to catch up with this fame, but in the end, "renown" outruns him. Now, in the fourth stanza, the author explains that the only way to avoid this emptiness is to quit while you're ahead, so to speak. "So set, before its echoes fade," in that one must accept that he or she will not be famous forever. For those who do this, the laurel around one's head will be therewith his pride is preserved. This contrasts with "early though the laurel grows, it withers quicker than the rose." As laurels are a symbol of victory and championship, but are also temporary by nature, the poem enforces the fact that those who "die young," or quit while they are ahead, do not have to go through the indignity of fading away.