Identify elements that make "To an Athlete Dying Young" an elegy.

An elegy is defined as a somber poem or song that praises
or laments the dead.  In the poem To An Athlete Dying Young, Houseman "praises" the
young athlete for dying at a time in his life when he is still the town's hero.  Dying
at a the prime of his life holds  less disappointment as he will always be viewed as a
hero.   

Smart lad, to slip betimes
away
 
From fields where glory does not
stay,
  10
And early though
the laurel grows
 
It withers quicker than the
rose.

The "laurel" is the wreath placed upon the head of
athletes in ancient Greece and is seen in this poem as the his glory. This "withers
quicker than the rose" - the rose is his life.  Glory fades in the living. In life
records and accomplishments fade with time as new heroes emerge and new records are
broken.

In the last stanza Houseman writes people will
"flock to gaze" upon him.  They will always remember him a hero; his glory will never
fade even though his records may be broken by another.