The Baseball Score
A boy came racing down the streetIn a most tumultuous way,And he hollered at all he chanced to meet:"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"His eyes and his breath were hot with joyAnd his cheeks were all aflame--'Twas a rare event with the little boyWhen the champions won a game!
"Twenty to 6" and "10 to 2"Were rather dismal scores,And they wreathed in a somewhat somber hueThese classic western shores;We shuddered and winced at the cruel sportAnd our heads were bowed in shame'Till Somewhere sent us the glad reportThat the champions won the game!
Our Baby says it'll be all rightFor the champions by and by,And the twin emotions of Hope and FrightGleam in his cod fish eye;And Spalding says (in his modest way)That we'll get there all the same;So let us holler, "Hooray, hooray,"When the champions win the game.
Words in this poem
- aflame adv.
- Inflames; glowing with light or passion; ablaze. G. Eliot. [Pref. a- + flame.]
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Baseball Score is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, The Baseball Score, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/the-baseball-score.html, id L11629.
Form and metre
The Baseball Score is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCD streetA · wayB · meetA · hoorayB · joyC · aflameD · boyC · gameD
- 2 -A-ABCBC — · scoresA · hue · shoresA · sportB · shameC · reportB · gameC
- 3 ABABCDCD rightA · byB · frightA · eyeB · wayC · sameD · hoorayC · gameD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A boy came racing down the street | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In a most tumultuous way, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And he hollered at all he chanced to meet: | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| "Hooray, hooray, hooray!" | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
| His eyes and his breath were hot with joy | 9 | ········· |
| And his cheeks were all aflame-- | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| 'Twas a rare event with the little boy | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| When the champions won a game! | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| "Twenty to 6" and "10 to 2" | 5 | /˘··· |
| Were rather dismal scores, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And they wreathed in a somewhat somber hue | 10 | ·····///˘· |
| These classic western shores; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| We shuddered and winced at the cruel sport | 9 | ·/˘····/· |
| And our heads were bowed in shame | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Till Somewhere sent us the glad report | 9 | ·/·····˘/ |
| That the champions won the game! | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Our Baby says it'll be all right | 9 | //˘·/˘··· |
| For the champions by and by, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| And the twin emotions of Hope and Fright | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| Gleam in his cod fish eye; | 6 | ······ |
| And Spalding says (in his modest way) | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| That we'll get there all the same; | 7 | ······· |
| So let us holler, "Hooray, hooray," | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘/ |
| When the champions win the game. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.