What is the tone of "To an Athlete Dying Young"?

Imagine that the speaker in the poem has returned from the
funeral of this popular, record-holding athlete who is a greatly admired resident of his
town. The funeral has impacted him deeply, and he seeks an outlet for his inconsolable
sense of loss. In his attempt to make sense of this loss, he recalls the day when the
deceased was joyfully “chaired” through the marketplace “shoulder high”. Immediately,
the picture in his mind switches to the more recent “shoulder high “scene, that of the
athlete’s funeral procession that had taken place earlier in the day. The sheer contrast
in the mood of the two occasions produces within him such stinging pain that he must
find catharsis.  

The poet finds catharsis in transforming
death into a victory, thus removing its emotional “sting”. Troubled reflection becomes
calculated celebration of the athlete whom he now congratulates for his wit “to slip
betimes away”/ From fields where glory does not stay”. Indeed, at this point, the
deceased is doubly esteemed by the poet: first, for being an athlete with an unbroken
record; and second, for outwitting “glory” by dying before it fades. His celebration of
the youth merges into a celebration of death, diminishing the initial sting of the loss
so that death is now euphemistically referred to as the “shady night “that shuts the
eyes and the “earth” that stops the ears, two very harmless
elements.

The climax of the celebration is as the poet
projects to the welcome of the athlete among the spirits of the dead. There is no doubt
that the spirits of the dead share the poet’s wonder at the superior intelligence of the
athlete to exit the “fields where glory does not stay” before he is forced to join the
ranks of “runners renown outran”. Like the poet in his new celebration of death, they
“flock to gaze” in amazement at the “early-laurelled head”. Not only is the athlete a
champion in the eyes of the living, but he is also a champion in the eyes of the dead
for his genius in outwitting short-lived “glory”. In the course of the seven stanzas,
the tone evolves from being sore and reflective to being triumphant and
confident.