In "To an Athlete Dying Young, " "Nothing Gold Can Stay, " and "When You Are Old, ” readers can see the similarities in youth and ageing between these three poems. Youth is a great and special time in a person’s life. In “To an Athlete Dying Young, " the speaker congratulates the athlete for dying before his fame wasted away since death in youth can preserve the flawless image in the memories. In comparison, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” also illustrates the youth throughout the line “Nature first green is gold. ” Gold represents youth and innocence, which is the most beautiful moment in life. In "When You Are Old, ” people will come to regret people who loved them deeply and miss youth- a memorable time. Besides, all three poems show that things will change when time passes. When the character in "To an Athlete Dying Young" win the race, he is brought home in “shoulder-high”. Nevertheless, the second “Shoulder-high we bring you home” means he is being carried in his coffin. To compare, the line “Her hardest hue to hold” in "Nothing Gold Can Stay" means nature is constantly changing from time to time. The character in "When You Are Old” is old and “grey and full asleep”, which is different from the past. These similarities can be seen throughout all three poems.
However, these poems still have some differences in opinion of youth and age. In "To an Athlete Dying Young, ” youth can stay forever in a person’s life if they die young and age cannot impact the glory of a person. The line “And the name died before the man” means the athlete should be thankful that he died before people forgot his name. Therefore, his image can still be flawless in their memories although he dies young. The poem also shows that age cannot impact the glory of a person. People will still remember the winning day of the athlete in the future as well as his glory and achievement. In contrast, in "Nothing Gold Can Stay, " youth can never stay. It is clearly shown through the last line “Nothing gold can stay”. The speaker views youth cannot stay forever, and it is short-lived. As a result, the poem also wants to say that everyone will come of age as time passes. However, the idea of youth and age in "When You Are Old” is different from other poems. People will regret youth when they are old is clearly illustrated throughout the whole poem. Two lines “And bending down beside the glowing bars, / Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled” best illustrates that people will regret rejecting those who loved them from the bottom of their heart. Therefore, they regret their youth. Throughout the three poems, we can see three different opinions about youth and age.
In
"
To an
Athlete
Dying
Young
,
"
"
Nothing Gold Can
Stay
,
"
and
"
When You Are
Old
,
”
readers can
see
the similarities in
youth
and
ageing
between these three
poems
.
Youth
is a great and special
time
in a
person’s
life. In “To an
Athlete
Dying
Young
,
"
the speaker congratulates the
athlete
for
dying
before
his fame wasted away since death in
youth
can preserve the flawless image in the memories.
In comparison
,
“Nothing
Gold Can
Stay”
also
illustrates the
youth
throughout the
line
“Nature
first
green is gold. ” Gold represents
youth
and innocence, which is the most
beautiful
moment in life. In
"
When You Are
Old
,
”
people
will
come
to
regret
people
who
loved
them
deeply
and miss
youth-
a memorable
time
.
Besides
, all three
poems
show
that things will
change
when
time
passes. When the character in
"
To an
Athlete
Dying
Young
"
win the race, he
is brought
home in “shoulder-high”.
Nevertheless
, the second “Shoulder-high we bring you home” means he is
being carried
in his coffin. To compare, the
line
“Her hardest hue to hold” in
"
Nothing Gold Can Stay
"
means nature is
constantly
changing from
time
to
time
. The character in
"
When You Are
Old”
is
old
and “
grey
and full asleep”, which is
different
from the past. These similarities can be
seen
throughout all three poems.
However
, these
poems
still
have
some
differences in opinion of
youth
and
age
. In
"
To an
Athlete
Dying
Young
,
”
youth
can
stay
forever in a
person’s
life if they
die
young
and
age
cannot impact the glory of a
person
. The
line
“And the name
died
before
the
man
” means the
athlete
should be thankful that he
died
before
people
forgot his name.
Therefore
, his image can
still
be flawless in their memories although he
dies
young
. The
poem
also
shows
that
age
cannot impact the glory of a
person
.
People
will
still
remember the winning day of the
athlete
in the future
as well
as his glory and achievement.
In contrast
, in
"
Nothing Gold Can
Stay
,
"
youth
can never
stay
. It is
clearly
shown through the last
line
“Nothing
gold can
stay”
. The speaker views
youth
cannot
stay
forever, and it is short-
lived
.
As a result
, the
poem
also
wants to say that everyone will
come
of
age
as
time
passes.
However
, the
idea
of
youth
and
age
in
"
When You Are
Old”
is
different
from other
poems
.
People
will
regret
youth
when they are
old
is
clearly
illustrated throughout the whole
poem
. Two
lines
“And bending down beside the glowing bars, / Murmur, a
little
sadly
, how
Love
fled” best illustrates that
people
will
regret
rejecting those who
loved
them from the bottom of their heart.
Therefore
, they
regret
their
youth
. Throughout the three
poems
, we can
see
three
different
opinions about
youth
and
age
.