AIBU to think the poem To An Athlete Dying Young is sad since I became a mother

[ConfusedWife1234]

I remember reading the poem To An Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman when I was 16. As the title indicates it is about a sportsman dying young by the way. Did not mean anything to me. I thought it was cheesy.

Now that I am older and have been a mother for a while - my oldest is five- I think the poem is just soooo sad.
I never lost a kid thanks got, but the thought that one of my children would die young makes my blood run cold... and now I think of his mother who is not even mentioned in this poem and how it must be for her.

Is there any book/poetry/movie you felt just so different about after having kids?

I think the word virtuos is pretty stupid and I would never use it.

No, me neither.

I definitely feel differently now I'm a mother. I remember reading about the whole James Bulger case before I had my son and being absolutely sickened and horrified by it. Somehow I came across another article about James' murder when my son was about the same age that he'd been when he was abducted and killed. My reaction this time was definitely heightened; I was still sickened by it but this time I felt different because I couldn't help but think about my own son and how I'd feel in the situation that James' poor mother was and still is in.

Of course childless or infertile women have absolutely the same amount of empathy as anyone else. I just know that I felt differently. It definitely affected me more.

I totally agree! I remember standing in the British museum when DS was under 1 and sobbing my heart out at the man mummified in sand they have in a glass case. He had a mum who loved him and now he was in a box - it was sort of super empathy with a woman I had never met who lived thousands of years ago because we both had sons.

As soft as I ever was. Cried before I had kids and cried just the same after.

@vampirekiller and @disgracetotheYchromosome just looked that song up again and it broke my heart.

I lost my dear DD1 when she was a baby and The Eurythmics's There Must Be An Angel always brings her to my mind.