Blogpost #5

In "To An Athlete Dying Young," Housman uses poetic sounds in order to perpetuate a tragic yet comforting mood.  Housman's utilization of iambic tetrameter, AABB rhyme scheme, melancholy and consoling diction, and arrangement of words all play a role in appealing to the reader's emotion.  Thus, by using poetic sounds, Housman enables the reader to make a deeper connection to the poem.  Without poetic sounds such as rhyme, diction, and syntax, Housman would not have been able to appeal to the reader's emotions.  Subsequently, the reader would become disconnected without poetic sounds, as the poem would appear to lack complexity and be dull.