Question

Read the excerpt and then complete the sentences that follow. To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman (excerpt) 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. To-day, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town. . . . Now you will not swell the rout Of lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outran And the name died before the man. So set, before the 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-laurelled head Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead, And find unwithered on its curls The garland briefer than a girl's. In the poem, the phrase "sill of shade" refers to . The narrator of this poem is .

Answer 1

sill of shade: loss of life

and the second is a reflective onlooker

Answer 2

In the poem, the phrase "sill of shade" refers to the loss of life. The narrator of this poem is a reflective onlooker.

This poem is about death and fame. Even though it starts cheerfully remembering the victory of an Athlete, it later starts talking about his funeral procession, his death.

In the line "The fleet foot on the sill of shade", the "fleet" foot refers to the feet of the athlete, and the "sill of shade" refers to the doorway to death, the loss of life itself.

And the narrator of this poem is a reflective onlooker because the poem is being told from a third person's view, that is to say, one that is not directly involved in the drama, but he/she is seeing the events and reflectively tell them.