When looking at the structure of the poem I noticed that there was a lot of enjambment throughout and it was pretty random, and maybe it goes along with his old, tired tone. Also, the author doesn't use hardly any punctuation, having only who periods throughout the 35 line poem. The periods are only at the the end of the two stanzas. I think the reason for that goes along with the tired, old tone.
When reading this poem it didn't read like a poem, it read like a story or like a speech maybe, and I liked that it did that, it was interesting. If it was to be read as a speech it would be a pretty darn good one though. It starts out with the character playing baseball and realizing that he is the oldest one out there and he is old enough that the shortstop would practically be his son, and that isn't something many athletes really enjoy... After that first stanza it seems like that realization made him realize even more things like that people talk of him being slow, and he's being faked out left and right, etc. It isn't until this line that the tone changes, "But just as the scribes were beginning to write you off as a has-been on his last leg." After reading that line I found that he had a made a new realization and that was that he wasn't about to let all these people determine the rest of his career. He got a second wind and took it all the way home and showed he wasn't just that old guy in the amateur baseball league. By believing in himself and his fans showing their support he finally proved he wasn't just the old guy... he was deserving of the majors. At the end of the day, this poem was fun and I liked that the poet made it their own and did it their own way showing his love for the game. :)
Hey! We were both wrong! That other one was your last one. :D You did an extra. You're like that, you little over-achiever!
ReplyDeleteVery nice work this year. Your blogs were always thoughtful and a pleasure to read.