There are many different ways to define poetry. There is not an actual definition that applies to all poetry. If you take a poem apart by its elements you will be able to better define the poem. This paper will discuss the elements of the poem; To an Athlete Dying Young by A.E Houseman.

The basics of the poem are its rhyme scheme and meter. A poem has its own rhyme scheme and meter. The poem To an Athlete Dying Young has a very basic AA, BB, CC rhyme pattern. The rhyme scheme is found by listening to the last word in the line of a poem. Then for each word that rhymes you put together. Next you will find that this poem's meter is iambic tetrameter. The first part of that statement is Iambic which is the rhythm of the epic, in this case unstressed, stressed...