Analysis of My old football



YOU can keep your antique silver and your statuettes of bronze,
Your curios and tapestries so fine,
But of all your treasures rare there is nothing to compare
With this patched up, wornout football pal o’ mine.
Just a patchedup wornout football, yet how it clings!
I live again my happier days in thoughts that football brings.
It’s got a mouth, it’s got a tongue,
And oft when we’re alone I fancy that it speaks
To me of golden youth that’s flown.
It calls to mind our meeting,
’Twas a present from the Dad.
I kicked it yet I worshipped it,
How strange a priest it had!
And yet it jumped with pleasure
When I punched it might and main:
And when it had the dumps
It got blown up and punched again.
It’s lived its life;
It’s played the game;
Its had its rise and fall,
There’s history in the wrinkles of that wornout football.
Caresses rarely came its way in babyhood ’twas tanned.
It’s been well oiled, and yet it’s quite teetotal, understand.
It’s gone the pace, and sometimes it’s been absolutely bust,
And yet ’twas always full of bounce,
No matter how ’twas cussed.
He’s broken many rules and oft has wandered out of bounds,
He’s joined in shooting parties
Over other people’s grounds.
Misunderstood by women,
He was never thought a catch,
Yet he was never happier
Than when bringing off a match.
He’s often been in danger
Caught in nets that foes have spread,
He’s even come to life again
When all have called him dead.
Started on the centre,
And he’s acted on the square,
To all parts of the compass
He’s been bullied everywhere.
His aims and his ambitious
Were opposed by one and all,
And yet he somehow reached his goal
That plucky old football.
When schooling days were ended
I forgot him altogether,
And ’midst the dusty years
He lay a crumpled lump of leather.
Then came the threat’ning voice of War,
And games had little chance,
My brother went to do his bit
Out there somewhere in France.
And when my brother wrote he said,
‘Of all a Tommy’s joys,
There’s none compares with football.
Will you send one for the boys?’
I sent not one but many,
And my old one with the rest,
I thought that football’s finished now,
But no he stood the test.
Behind the lines they kicked him
As he’d never been kicked before.
Till they busted him and sent him back
A keepsake of the war.
My brother lies out there in France,
Beneath a simple cross,
And I seem to feel my football knows my grief,
And shares my loss.
He tells me of that splendid charge,
And then my brother’s fall.
In life he loved our mutual chum
That worn-out football.
Oh you can keep your antique silver
And your statuettes of bronze
Your curios and tapestries so fine
But of all your treasures rare
There is nothing to compare
With that patched-up worn-out football—
Pal o’ mine.  

----------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- --   


Scheme aBcbddxxxxefegxxhxxiijjkxklxlxmgmgnhngcocoixixgxgpqfqnrirxsxsxpxpqtxtxixigaBccib
Poetic Form
Metre 11110110010111 1100010011 11111011110101 111111111 101111111 11011100101111 11011101 011001110111 11110111 11111010 1010101 11111101 110111 0111110 1111101 011101 11110101 1111 1101 111101 110000101111 0101011101011 11110111101 1101001110101 0111111 110111 11010101110111 1101010 1010101 001110 1110101 11110100 1110101 1101010 1011111 11011101 111111 101010 0110101 1111010 111010 1101010 0011101 0111111 11011 1101010 1011010 010101 110101110 1101111 011101 11011111 11101 01110111 11011 110111 1111101 1111110 0111101 1111101 111101 0101111 11101101 111010111 01101 11011101 010101 0111111111 0111 11111101 011101 0111101001 1111 111110110 010111 1100010011 1111101 1110101 1111111 111 1
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,827
Words 512
Sentences 28
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 80, 1
Lines Amount 81
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,069
Words per stanza (avg) 255
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

2:33 min read
536

John Milton Hayes

John Milton Hayes is better known as J Milton Hayes he was an English actor and poet best known for his 1911 dramatic monologue The Green Eye of the Yellow God more…

All John Milton Hayes poems | John Milton Hayes Books

0 fans

Discuss this John Milton Hayes poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "My old football" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23908/my-old-football>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    19
    hours
    16
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Published in 1954, "Fighting Terms" was the first collection of poems by which poet?
    A Ted Hughes
    B Philip Larkin
    C Sylvia Plath
    D Thom Gunn