We were all sitting around discussing books the other day. One book that received a fair amount of discussion was the “The Runner” by Cynthia Voigt. Some individual who can never get his nouns straight said that book started off with a quote from a poem called “A Shropshire Lad” by A. E. Housman.

That is not accurate. “A Shropshire Lad” is the name of a collection of poems. The name of the actual poem that leads off and ends the book is To an Athlete Dying Young. That poem can be found in “A Shropshire Lad”. So can other poems that make an appearance in “The Runner”.

Anyway, in honor of our discussions the other day, we have made “To an Athlete Dying Young” poem of the week.