Death is imminent. We cannot escape it. However, the perspective someone takes on the subject can have a huge impact on the ever-approaching darkness. When AE Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young" and Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" were written, certain ideas were intended to be displayed and certain thoughts strove to be communicated. A poem is much more than just a sequence of words. A poem is an instrument through which the poet expresses his opinion and shares his beliefs. You can learn a lot about a particular author simply by studying their works. Although the poems of Dylan Thomas and AE Housman are both similar in that they address the controversial subject of death, a closer evaluation will distinguish many opposing traits between the two poets. The poems are most different in the main structure of the poem, the two poets' views on life, and their ideas about what defines a person. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay To begin, one must analyze the main structure of these two poems. Although it is obvious that death is the main theme, one of the main differences between the two is how the authors present the themes. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” by AE Housman, the main character of the poem is a young local hero who recently passed away. The hero gained his fame as a runner, and at the time of his death he was glorious. The narrator is supposed to be Housman, who acts as a grieving townsman, in a small English town at the funeral of the athlete (Cummings). Although it mentions the members of the town, the poem focuses entirely on a single individual. The poem consists of seven stanzas, each containing four lines. Due to the internal structure and appearance given to grieving and accepting death, "To An Athlete Dying Young" has been referred to as an elegy (Cummings). On the contrary, Dylan Thomas' poem is classified as villanelle ("Literary Analysis"). It has six stanzas, the first five containing three lines and the last four. Thomas formatted his poem into what appears to be three parts: an introduction, examples of the ideas conveyed, followed by a personal section possibly concerning Thomas' father ("Analysis of the Poem"). The work is narrated by Dylan Thomas and features four different types of individuals and how they deal with the idea of ​​impending death. Having studied the obvious structural aspects of the poem, one can engage in more in-depth examination. Both authors discuss impending death and the life leading up to it. AE Housman mainly focused on the idea that the inglorious life is almost pointless. In his poem “To an Athlete Dying Young,” he writes “Smart boy, to get away early / From the fields where glory does not stay” (9-10). In this case, the athlete benefited from death because it protected him from the disappointment of seeing his glory fade. A theme the reader can observe while reading this poem is "to quit while you're ahead" - it's better to die young than to see the glory fade away. The very idea of ​​dying young and victorious shows how Housman views life. He thinks that there can be nothing more once one has achieved greatness. Presumably he believes that once an athlete has reached the top, all that's left is to come down, in which case death is the "smart" choice. Life should be judged by the quality of years lived rather than the quantity of years lived. Dylan Thomas can however.