 | Messrs Bat and Ball |  |
2
TO KING CRICKET
Begotten by a County in the South;
Reared by that County; disciplined on grass,
You took the rest of England with a stump,
A bat, a ball—too solid for a lass.
You smiled among the farms and chose a crop
Of suitable servants; quarry, tanyard, mill
Were quick to spare from valley, plain, and hill
The human stuff to work your radiant will.
Reared by that County; disciplined on grass,
You took the rest of England with a stump,
A bat, a ball—too solid for a lass.
You smiled among the farms and chose a crop
Of suitable servants; quarry, tanyard, mill
Were quick to spare from valley, plain, and hill
The human stuff to work your radiant will.
Though Drake and Ralegh dared stupendous seas,
To glorify Britannia's neck with gems
As large as any stones that, flinging fire,
Gave various souls to foreign diadems,
I question if this pair of buccaneers,
At loggerheads with Spain in floating forts,
Steered bigger values homeward to our ports
Than riches given by you, Great King of Sports!
To glorify Britannia's neck with gems
As large as any stones that, flinging fire,
Gave various souls to foreign diadems,
I question if this pair of buccaneers,
At loggerheads with Spain in floating forts,
Steered bigger values homeward to our ports
Than riches given by you, Great King of Sports!
3
Historians never shall arise with wits
Alert enough to chronicle in prose
Your full success. You kept our bodies taut,
You sharpened us, you poised us on our toes;
And when the Eagle of the Rhineland screamed
For bayonets, and Khaki was the mode,
You tossed your playful weapons on the load
That creaked in mud along a Flanders road.
Alert enough to chronicle in prose
Your full success. You kept our bodies taut,
You sharpened us, you poised us on our toes;
And when the Eagle of the Rhineland screamed
For bayonets, and Khaki was the mode,
You tossed your playful weapons on the load
That creaked in mud along a Flanders road.
You spread abroad, as bothered rivers spread
To flood our earth. The westward Indian glides
Young Larwood to the palings; Hottentots
Avoid with care sub-equatorial wides;
Bewildered Turks have seen a Cockney bang
Half-volleys near the Jordan, and have known
A Major's fury when, as hard as stone,
The leather crashed against his funny-bone.
To flood our earth. The westward Indian glides
Young Larwood to the palings; Hottentots
Avoid with care sub-equatorial wides;
Bewildered Turks have seen a Cockney bang
Half-volleys near the Jordan, and have known
A Major's fury when, as hard as stone,
The leather crashed against his funny-bone.
4
This is an Empire vowed to buckskin boots
And measured creases. Merrily we found
Academies on turf, though rank and rough;
Pick friendly foes; and do our best to pound
The crimson circle to a bruised ellipse.
If Nyren may remove from shadowy bands
Of demi-gods, be sure that Nyren stands
Among the crowd, twitching his cheated hands!
And measured creases. Merrily we found
Academies on turf, though rank and rough;
Pick friendly foes; and do our best to pound
The crimson circle to a bruised ellipse.
If Nyren may remove from shadowy bands
Of demi-gods, be sure that Nyren stands
Among the crowd, twitching his cheated hands!
Thousands of girls with boyish appetite
For stolen runs invade the level greens
Reserved so long to give the rougher sex
A chance to bully leather to the screens.
They pack pavilions when the Kangaroo
And Lion grimly front their fate at Lord's,
And steal with cameras the sunburnt lads
To whose ability sweet Fortune adds
The right to sport their international pads.
For stolen runs invade the level greens
Reserved so long to give the rougher sex
A chance to bully leather to the screens.
They pack pavilions when the Kangaroo
And Lion grimly front their fate at Lord's,
And steal with cameras the sunburnt lads
To whose ability sweet Fortune adds
The right to sport their international pads.
5
Small wonder that so many lips have brushed
The foam of Barleycorn's October beer
In salutation of Your Majesty!
Small wonder that the Byegones hobble near
On sticks and crutches, noting in the cool
And tall pavilions how the youngsters tend
The Hambledonian heritage, and spend
Their muscle on a Monarch and a Friend!
The foam of Barleycorn's October beer
In salutation of Your Majesty!
Small wonder that the Byegones hobble near
On sticks and crutches, noting in the cool
And tall pavilions how the youngsters tend
The Hambledonian heritage, and spend
Their muscle on a Monarch and a Friend!
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