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Messenger Shoulder

Messenger Shoulder

Poem at the end of Messenger by Lois Lowry?

this excerpt from the poem "To An Athlete dying Young" is in the end chapters of Messenger:

Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

what does this excerpt have to do with anything? is it about the death of the main character when he heals everything? help please and thankyou

The first stanza tells about the past accomplishments and celebrations of the athlete. “The time you won your town the race” shows his success in the past. The tone starts out to be one of pride for the athlete, but soon it changes to a very melancholy and solemn one. The next three stanzas are very depressing and tell of a young man who’s “Eyes the shady night has shut.” The final stanzas are perhaps the most dreary of all. They look to the future, a future of things undone, a life unlived, and a young man dead too soon. The tone of the story is very poignant and one that cannot easily be shaken from memory. The tone may be a very depressing one, but the theme is even more piercing. The theme of To an Athlete Dying Young is not apparent after one reading. I gave it much thought and have come to one eerie conclusion; the speaker is viewing the premature death in a positive light. To most, that is a terrible or even sinful thing to contemplate, but it is indeed what the speaker is conveying. The theme of this poem is that it is better to die as a young champion than to grow old and be forgotten by all those who surpass your one-time greatness. He calls the dead athlete a “smart lad” for dying as a champion and not remaining in the “fields where glory does not stay.” He then compares early death to growing old and being forgotten in the lines “And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears.” That is a very powerful statement. The speaker honestly believes that it is just as well to die young and be praised as it is to live out the rest of your life and be forgotten. The line “Runners whom renown outran” also indicates the theme. That line conveys the message that the fame and glory is only temporary, and it is better to perish before “the name died before the man.” The last two stanzas paint a picture that the death was a type of victory for the athlete. He died without the taste of defeat; he died a champion. The theme may be rather ugly, but it is one that many people can understand. I thought this was an outstanding poem, and its theme was very touching to me. I am in my final year of athletic competition on the soccer field. When I am done, I must grow old and live with the fact that someone is better than me; someone has elevated past my victories and is now in my spotlight. It is definitely a tough pill to swallow. I can sympathize with the speaker as I too will be in his shoes someday. The poem To an Athlete Dying Young is a very meaningful piece of poetry. To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman The time you won your town the race We chaired you through the market place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. Today, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town. Smart lad, to slip betimes away From fields where glory does not stay And early though the laurel grows It withers quicker than a rose. Eyes the shady night has shut Cannot see the record cut, And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears: Now you will not swell the rout Of lads that wore their honors out, Runners whom renown outran And the name died before the man. So set, before its echoes fade, The fleet foot on the sill of shade, And hold to the low lintel up The still defended challenge cup. And round that early laureled head Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead And find unwithered on its curls The garland briefer than a girl’s.