Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern British Poetry. 1920.
A. E. Housman18591936To An Athlete Dying Young
T
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl’s.