Which theme is prominent in this excerpt from "to an athlete dying young" by a. e. housman?

now you will not swell the rout
of lads that wore their honours out,
runners whom renown outran
and the name died before the man.

so set, before its echoes fade,
the fleet foot on the sill of shade,
and hold to the low lintel up
the still-defended challenge-cup

and round that early-laurelled head
will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
and find unwithered on its curls
the garland briefer than a girl's.

a) the inevitability of death
b) the fame and glory an athlete receives
c) the short-lived nature of glory
d) the short-lived strength of human love