To An Athlete Dying Young Analysis

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The promises left unfulfilled: The effects of influential people whose lives have been cut short on the community and those closest in Nikki Giovanni’s A Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and A. E. Housman’s To an Athlete Dying Young. These poems share a common theme of Influential people dying during their prime and not being able to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of their communities. First in comparing the two poems we’ll compare the tones. In Giovanni’s A Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy the tone is ominous. Phrases such as “…unheeding of nature…” (Line 4) foreshadows danger and death, as the “…unheeding of nature…” as the poem is about the assassination of Robert Kennedy means this to be killed early in life unnaturally. The tone for Housman’s To an Athlete Dying young is at first admiration for the young man and quickly turns …show more content…
In Giovanni’s poem is a massive metaphor. She uses a tree to represent Kennedy; he was a strong individual with a goal and purpose. He was working till fall much like trees do to reap the rewards of his hard work and determination, but was unable as his life was cut short unable to blossom much like a tree cut in the summer.
In Housman’s poem the meaning is very similar from that of Giovanni. The poem is a tribute to an athlete dying young and his career and life withering away as a rose. He is dying at the pinnacle of his career achieving things his town never would’ve thought, however he is losing himself in it and perishes before he can unlock and use his true potential.
Promises left unfulfilled are a travesty. Giovanni’s poem A Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and Housman’s To an Athlete Dying young are poems of men at their pinnacle and losing their lives before they can live to their true potential. These poems used imagery and diction to elaborate these stories through metaphors and phrases to deepen the meaning of their