Casey to His Bat

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Daniel Galef

Casey to His Bat

 

      (As a sonnet)

      You’re swell! No wizard’s-wand or Rod of Aaron
      With this ease can whack one past the glove
      The way a sparrow weaves through trees. No baron
      Wields your power—you’re the scepter of
      A king, and blood descendent of the club
      That Hercules did swing. That bat was blessed!
      It knocked the blocks off lions. (Not a cub—
      A full-grown beast.) Herc wore the skin, the rest
      Cooked up for grub. My point: We’ll stand immobile.
      It’s beneath us—just a dud. To swing
      At these poor lulus would insult your noble
      Blood. One pitch will come—the air will sing—
      We’ll know that this is it. We’ll swing. We’ll hit!
      The crowd will cheer! We’ll run! We’ll win!—Oh, shit.

 

Daniel Galef

Casey to His Bat

 

      (In the meter of “Casey at the Bat”)

      You’re swell! No wizard’s-wand or Rod of Aaron with this ease
      Can whack one past the glove the way a sparrow weaves through trees.
      No baron wields your power—you’re the scepter of a king,
      And blood descendent of the club that Hercules did swing.
      That bat was blessed! It knocked the blocks off lions. (Not a cub—
      A full-grown beast.) Herc wore the skin, the rest cooked up for grub.
      My point: We’ll stand immobile. It’s beneath us—just a dud.
      To swing at these poor lulus would insult your noble blood.
      One pitch will come—the air will sing—we’ll know that this is it.
      We’ll swing. We’ll hit! The crowd will cheer! We’ll run! We’ll win!—Oh, shit.

 

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Author’s Notes: This is a Convertible Sonnet (see the following page). There are exactly one hundred and forty “feet” in both the sonnet and the five stanzas of common/ballad meter. As far as I can tell, this is the first verse like this ever written. “Casey at the Bat” is a famous poem by Ernest Thayer published in 1888, the same year as the collection Imaginary Sonnets by Eugene Lee-Hamilton.