To An Athlete Dying Young Analysis

Whether a love poem, or a death poem, poetry is always composed with a specific task in mind the author is attempting to accomplish. The task may range from admiring someone or something, or even commenting upon the ills of society, but nevertheless, poetry is always written with the intent of delivering a powerful and meaningful message. Such is the case with the two poems, “Homage to My Hips” and “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Each poem utilizes certain elements differently such as symbolism, the topics of love and death, and emotional connection to bring the reader’s attention to significant societal issues, and illustrate the affect those issues have upon those in society. These poems are similar in that they both celebrate some aspect of

Love and death are quite distinct topics, and both poets use them differently to construct eloquent critiques of societal ills and empowering messages on how to solve them. Clifton, in “Homage to My Hips,” relies heavily on the topic of love and confidence, highlights her self love, and empowers other women to do so. She criticizes how society demeans and antagonizes women for being large, and refutes this by championing her own hips, and encouraging others to act the same. Clifton says that “these hips have never been enslaved” to portray her refusal to comply with societal standards that would hold her down and make her a slave to the whims of those in society (8). By refusing to conform, she brings to light the issue of society thinking beauty lies in being skinny, and confidently contradicts it by being a large and proud woman. Her message to women consists of telling them that no matter what society says or wants, they should live their lives freely, and choose to look and be who they desire, without heeding to the fancies of others. Clifton demolishes the notion that to be beautiful one must be skinny, and shows that women must love and be comfortable in their bodies in order to release themselves from the oppressive ideologies of society. Housman, on the other hand, uses death in “To an Athlete Dying

“Homage to My Hips” uses confident and cheerful emotions, constructed with the infectious pride that the speaker holds in herself and her body. By using joy in the poem, Clifton is able to show the beauty of accepting oneself no matter what their size is, and empowers all women to do the same. Clifton writes “i have known them/to put a spell on a man and/ spin him like a top” to gleefully parade the wonderful nature of the woman’s large hips, and show that although they may be large, they are still beautiful and can be loved (13,14,15). The glee and innocence encourages women to feel the same way, namely that no matter the size of their body, they can and will be loved by others in society, regardless of the expectation that women be skinny. Happiness is emphasized in this poem fittingly, as it is one about confidence in oneself, and its happiness is infectious and impactful in bearing a message of self love to its audience. “To an Athlete Dying Young,” conversely, relies more on the emotions of grief and pride to bring its message across of the difficulty of the athletic industry. Housman is able to combine the emotions of pride and grief to emphasize that in athletics, pride comes first when an athlete is successful, but grief soon follows when they are beaten and no longer significant. The speaker’s emotions portray this “emotional curve” per say, in that he