Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A BALLADE OF THE GAME, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A BALLADE OF THE GAME, by                    
First Line: "tier upon tier, through the stands are strown"
Last Line: "'yale, old yale, and a victory!"
Subject(s): Games;victory; Recreation;pastimes;amusements


TIER upon tier, through the stands are strown
Faces fervid and faces fair —
Banners aloft in the breezes blown,
Waving ribbons and wayward hair,
Flushes the West with a crimson flare;
Glimmers the East like a summer sky.
Thunder of throngs in the frosty air —
Yale, old Yale, and a victory!

Joy of battle and brawn of stone —
Pride of pain in the deed they dare —
Yard by yard they are struggling on,
Backward the Crimson they bend and bear;
Met with the strain of a strong despair,
Into the strife again, do or die,
Till the shouts to tatters the stillness tear —
Yale, old Yale, and a victory!

Two long years o'er our flag have flown —
Years of darkness and dismal care;
Now the time of our time has known —
One short day shall our fate declare.
Each in our sorrow has borne a share,
Each has a share in the glad loud cry,
Shaking the skies with a trumpet-blare —
Yale, old Yale, and a victory.

L'Envoi

Queen of Violets, reigning there —
Spirit of strength in a violet eye —
Lend us the power of thy whispered prayer:
"Yale, old Yale, and a victory!"





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