Base-Ball Ballads/The Song of the Base Hit

by Grantland Rice

 

THE SONG OF THE BASE HIT.

A twist, a whirl, and a sudden jar,
And off from the bat to the field afar—
Off like the shot from a ten-inch gun,
A gray-white streak through the slanting sun
   I soar away
   Through a summer's day
   Where the frantic fielders of the fray,
   With dervish dance
   And anguished glance,
  Come whirling in to cop me;
   But I glide between
   With a mocking mien
  And there is none to stop me.

A shout, a roar, and a ringing cheer,
And on my way through the atmosphere
I leap to the light where clenched hands grip
As wild eyes watch me fly or skip
   Through open space
   In headlong race,
   As the joy of the ages lights each face
   And pulses jump
   With a vibrant thump
  As the sky reels from the roar,
   And the rafters ring
   With the song I sing
  To the tune of the winning score!

The song I sing is the sweetest song
Or the saddest note to the waiting throng
That the world has known through the ages dim—
With keener lilt than a battle hymn,
   For my refrain
   Brings joy and pain,
   Where lost hopes rise and fond hopes wane,
   And in my path
   Sweeps a city's wrath
  Or a city's wild acclaim,
   And the planet's [sic] ring
   With the song I sing—
  The song of a nation's game!