“To An Athlete Dying Young” by AE Houseman and “Crossing The Bar” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson are poems very similar to each other and yet so different. "To An Athlete Dying Young" is about an athlete who dies young and Houseman congratulates him because people will remember him forever. "Crossing the Bar" is about Tennyson realizing he is going to die and accepting his fate. Both poems have a similar theme of death. Both authors make clever use of symbols such as, in “To An Athlete Dying Young,” Tennyson uses a laurel plant and a rose plant to symbolize the athlete's accomplishments. In "Crossing the Bar", Tennyson uses the sandbar to symbolize crossing. However, the rhyme scheme of these poems is different. Houseman writes in the traditional AABB rhyme scheme and Tennyson writes in the ABAB rhyme scheme. Both poems have a similar view of death; they also have similar uses of symbols, but differ in rhyme schemes. Both poems have an auspicious view of the theme of death. In “To An Athlete Dying Young” Houseman praises the young athlete for dying relatively young. He says "smart boy...don't stay (9-10)". Houseman tells the jock that he was smart to die at a young age because he can no longer see his glory fading as he gets older. His interpretation of death is very ironic. Many people consider it a tragedy when an athlete dies young because the athlete can no longer advance his or her career, but Houseman argues that an athlete should not further his or her career because once old, he or she is a shell of his or her former self. By taking his own life at a young age, the athlete gave himself eternal life in people's minds. Furthermore, in “Crossing The Bar,” Tennyson describes death as something that people should not fear. Tennyson k...... middle of paper ...... people have when they are younger but as they get older it fades away. He is proving that he is not afraid of death and that he is ready to embark on a journey that will unite him with his pilot. The rhyming schemes used by Houseman establish a less serious tone while Tennyson's formal use of the ABAB scheme establishes a more serious tone. To An Athlete Dying Young and Crossing the bar are similar poems. Both have the theme of death. In An Athlete Dying Young, Houseman tells a young athlete that his fame will last forever because he dies young. Accordingly, in Crossing the Bar, Tennyson says that his death will come soon and that he is ready to cross. However, the poems' different rhyme schemes help establish a different tone in each of them, such as a less serious tone for To An Athlete Dying Young and a more serious tone for Crossing the Bar..