“Casey at the Bat” is a poem
written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer with a structure that tells a story. The poem
itself is about baseball star Casey, who has a chance to win his team the game,
but strikes out. The mood of the poem revolves around the feelings of the crowd
watching the Mudville team.
The beginning of the poem features a feeling of
desperation, and wanting to win. The fans feel like they need Casey to do that.
Then, when “Flynn let drive a single” and “Tore the cover off the ball,” mighty
Casey came to the bat. The fans stood strong, excited because their hero was
coming to the bat. However, this Casey took strike one, and then he took strike
two. The huddled thousands of fans were growing quite anxious, shout “ ‘Kill
him! Kill the umpire!’ “ and “ ‘Fraud!’ ” while Casey stayed calm and cool.
Then the mood shifts back to it was at the beginning because “There is no joy
in Mudville.” This was because (drum roll please) mighty Casey had struck out.
This completes the cycle of the poem, just like a story.
In the end, the mood in “Casey at the Bat” makes the poem
feel like a story. The genius structure also perfectly summarizes a game of
baseball: sudden hope that’s ruined by a strikeout. I guess in this sense that
resembles some men’s lives: a rich man marries a trophy wife, is happy for a
short time, but then realizes that she’s just marrying him for his money.
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