"To an Athlete Dying Young"

The Greek hero Achilles chose a short life filled with glory over a long life that no one would remember. A. E. Housman develops this idea in his poem addressed to an anonymous athlete who ran to victory and then ran out of time on earth. Check out this list to decide how comforting his words are.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 7 Unit 3's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Tangerine, A stunning tale of escape, To an Athlete Dying Young, Biography of Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Landmarks of Nelson Mandela's Life, Invictus, Playing the Enemy, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    Today, the road all runners come,
    Shoulder-high we bring you home,
    And set you at your threshold down,
    Townsman of a stiller town.
  2. glory
    a state of high honor
    Smart lad, to slip betimes away
    From fields where glory does not stay
  3. laurel
    a wreath of foliage worn on the head as an emblem of victory
    And early though the laurel grows
  4. wither
    lose freshness, vigor, or vitality
    It withers quicker than the rose
  5. rout
    a disorderly crowd of people
    Now you will not swell the rout
    Of lads that wore their honours out
  6. renown
    the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed
    Runners whom renown outran
    And the name died before the man.
  7. fleet
    moving very fast
    So set, before its echoes fade,
    The fleet foot on the sill of shade
  8. defend
    protect against a challenge or attack
    And hold to the low lintel up
    The still-defended challenge-cup.
  9. gaze
    look at with fixed eyes
    And round that early-laurelled head
    Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead
  10. garland
    a circular band of flowers or other foliage
    And find unwithered on its curls
    The garland briefer than a girl's.
Created on Thu Sep 11 11:57:18 EDT 2014 (updated Thu Sep 11 18:09:27 EDT 2014)

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