7259 = 7 x 17 x 61
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
7260
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.
[What’s next?]
7261 = 53 x 137
Perhaps @Wheelz has an idea, in the meantime I would like to ask concerning this last poem at what moment it becomes clear that Casey has missed. Is it when “the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow”, does that verse mean only the air is shattered, because he missed? Is that baseball jargon too, or is it normal English?
7262
It is clear that Casey has missed in the very last line: “Mighty Casey has struck out.” “The air is shattered” isn’t baseball jargon, though “struck out” certainly is. It might be arguable, since TV commentators will occasionally say, “He whiffed on that one,” referring to the batter swinging mightily at a pitch and encountering nothing but air. But I don’t think “whiffed” in that sense was used when Thayer wrote the poem (1888). Regardless, “mighty Casey has struck out” makes it absolutely clear that Casey failed to hit the ball; and given the details earlier in the poem, Casey is out, the game is over, and Mudville lost.
When I was in high school, we actually studied this poem in an early English Literature class. An odd choice perhaps, sandwiched as it was among Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Donne, and Tennyson, among many other “classical” poets. But the teacher had a point in using it: it introduced us to looking deeper at a poem. The rhyming words are fun to read, and often, there’s a story there, but was the poet trying to tell us something other than just what the words mean?
In “Casey,” there turned out to be something Thayer wanted to tell us: the danger of hubris. Casey is confident; he knows he’s the best batter on the team, if not in the whole league; and he also knows that he can hit almost anything that is pitched to him, and hit it well–but only if he feels like it. In the poem, Casey doesn’t feel like even trying to hit the first two pitches. He’s ready for the third pitch though–except it turns out that the third pitch got the best of him, and he failed. Now, the fans hate him, his team hates him, and likely all of the town of Mudville hates him. “Pride goeth before a fall,” as the saying goes, and in Casey’s case, his pride went before a big fall.
7263 = 33 x 269
Nice! Thanks for the explanation.
7264
[Placeholder while we wait to see if @Wheelz wants to suggest something.]
7265 = 5 x 1453
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7266
Thanks for waiting around for me. Let’s do one of my favorite early tunes from the Boss:
Crazy Janey and her mission man
7267
Were back in the alley tradin’ hands
7268
'Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man
7269 = 3 x 2423
all duded up for Saturday night
7270
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes
7271 = 11 x 661
and said anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake
7272
It’s about a mile down on the dark side of Route 88
7273
I got a bottle of rose so let’s try it
7274 = 2 x 3637
We’ll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe
7275
And I’ll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
7276 = 22 x 17 x 107
They’re built like light
7277
Ooh, and they dance like spirits in the night (all night)
7278
In the night (all night)