Where It All Goes Down
The setting jumps around a little in this one, but we end up spending most of the poem in the graveyard where the athlete's funeral takes place.
Since we end up spending most of our time in a graveyard, it's nice that the poem begins someplace else. The first stanza is set outside, on the streets of a town, after a big foot race. We can really picture the crowd hoisting the victorious athlete high on their shoulders and carrying him through the streets. The setting here feels more Mayberry than Manhattan. This is probably due to words like "market-place" and "town." It gives the setting a more rural feel.
We don't get to spend much time celebrating, because the next stanza places us in the graveyard, the pallbearers setting the athlete's casket down at the "threshold" of his new home. Once the setting shifts to the graveyard, we never leave. Did you feel that? Shmoop just got a chill. The movement of the setting mirrors life: once you get to the graveyard, you don't leave. Spooky.