Ernest Thayer Quotes

“Oh! somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has "struck out."”

Ernest Thayer Casey at the Bat

Source: Casey at the Bat, Lines 49-52.

“"Strike one" the Umpire said.From the bleachers black with people there rose a sullen roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore,
"Kill him! Kill the Umpire!" shouted someone from the stand —
And it's likely they'd have done it had not Casey raised his hand.”

Ernest Thayer Casey at the Bat

Source: Casey at the Bat, Lines 32-36.

“We have reached the age, those of us to whom fortune has assigned a post in life's struggle, when, beaten and smashed and biffed by the lashings of the dragon's tail, we begin to appreciate that the old man was not such a damned fool after all. We saw our parents wrestling with that same dragon, and we thought, though we never spoke the thought aloud, 'Why don't he hit him on the head?' Alas, comrades, we know now. We have hit the dragon on the head and we have seen the dragon smile.”

Ernest Thayer

Spoken at Thayer's tenth anniversary reunion at Harvard, 1895, as quoted in "American Heritage," (December 1968).

“There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place,
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face,
And when responding to the cheers he lightly of his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt, 't was Casey at the bat.”

Ernest Thayer Casey at the Bat

Source: Casey at the Bat, Lines 21-24.