Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE CHAMPION'S BAT, by WILLIAM A. PHELON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CHAMPION'S BAT, by                    
First Line: Heavy and thick and long
Last Line: Where is the champion now?
Subject(s): Athletes; Baseball; Sports


HEAVY and thick and long,
Closely grained in the wood—
Bearing the marks of battle,
As a champion's favorite should—
Marred where it crashed on the leather—
Like the lines on a general's brow—
This was the champion's bat—
Where is the champion now?

This is the bat that battered
Speed and "straight ones" and curves—
This is the bat that baffled
Cunning and gameness and nerves—
This is the bat that conquered
Like the rush of a battleship's prow—
This was the champion's bat—
Where is the champion now?

Black as night is the ashwood,
Save where some ancient stain,
Mark of a thundering base hit,
Spots and crosses the grain—
Swung long ago by a hero,
Active and lithe as a cat—
Where is the champion now?
This was the champion's bat!

Oil-spotted, polished and sanded
How it was loved in the past,
When the champion bore it to battle
And his glory was spread on the blast!
Then, but a cheer for the champion,
Asking not when, why, or how—?
This was the champion's bat—
Where is the champion now?





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