To an Athelete Dying Young & Ulysses

To an Athelete Dying Young & Ulysses are both poems that describe the impact of Time on life. To an Athelete Dying Young describes the short life of a person who is missed dearly by his loved ones. The poem's tone is sad and describes a longing for the past. In Ulysses, the speaker is longing for the past because he is no longer in his prime. The two poems are different, in that, Odysseyus in Ulysses has lived too long, where the young athlete has lived too short. In addition, To an Athlete Dying Young describes the forever long glory that will follow the young athlete; "Eyes the shady night has shut cannot see the record cut.." This claims that since the athlete is no longer alive, and his eyes are shut, he will, therefore, never be able to see the person who beats his record. He will always be remembered and his glory will always be with him. In comparison, Ulysses describes and old man's frustration with his old age, and his longing for his glory. He juxtaposes his longing for the past with amitious adjectives such as "smite" while the words he uses for his current age are very empty and unexcited, such as "slow." Ulysses also descrives the privilege of being young and seizing life as he had it, but is currently frustrated with his inability to do ambitious things like he used to be able to do. Now, he's just waiting for death to take him as its prisoner.