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poem ?
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Can anyone help with a poem that has a verse or couple of lines alluding to a cricket match "9 wickets down and (so many) overs left to play". I can't remember any of the rest but it struck a chord and I've been trying for ages to find the title.
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Vitai Lampada
There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night -
Ten to make and the match to win -
A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
An hour to play and the last man in.
And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat,
Or the selfish hope of a season's fame,
But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote
"Play up! play up! and play the game!"
The sand of the desert is sodden red, -
Red with the wreck of a square that broke; -
The Gatling's jammed and the colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England's far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of schoolboy rallies the ranks,
"Play up! play up! and play the game!"
This is the word that year by year
While in her place the School is set
Every one of her sons must hear,
And none that hears it dare forget.
This they all with a joyful mind
Bear through life like a torch in flame,
And falling fling to the host behind -
"Play up! play up! and play the game!"
I wonder if the poem is "How McDougal Topped the Score" by Thomas E. Spencer.
The 6th verse contains the lines: "Then Piper's Flat went in to bat, for glory and renown, But, like the grass before the scythe, our wickets tumbled down.
"Nine wickets down for seventeen, with fifty more to win!" Our captain heaved a heavy sigh, and sent McDougal in."
You can see the whole poem on the following website: http://home.iprimus.com.au/slowrider/op/op05.htm
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