From the early Hellenic period, sports poetry has held fast. Pindar wrote many Epinicion, or triumphal odes, to honor Olympic athletes and victors. These complex structured odes were usually sung in a parade-type procession when the winner traveled back to his home town.
Centuries have passed and the excitement of sport games has continued, firmly embedded in every culture. Poets have sought out sports to catch a glimpse of the spirit of the game and its proud athletes.
Here’s an example of sports poetry; a glimpse of ferocity, youth, and football games, “A Mad Fight Song for William S. Carpenter, 1966”:
Varus, varus, gib mir meine Legionen wieder
Quick on my feet in those Novembers of my loneliness,
I tossed a short pass,
Almost the instant I got the ball, right over the head
Of Barrel Terry before he knocked me cold.
When I woke, I found myself crying out
Latin conjugations, and the new snow falling
At the edge of a green field.
Lemoyne Crone had caught the pass, while I lay
Unconscious and raging
Alone with the fire ghost of Catullus, the contemptuous graces tossing
Garlands and hendecasyllabics over the head
Of Cornelius Nepos the mastodon,
The huge volume.
At the edges of Southeast Asia this afternoon
The quarterbacks and the lines are beginning to fall,
A spring snow,
And terrified young men
Quick on their feet
Lob one another’s skulls across
Wings of strange birds that are burning
Themselves alive.
—by James Wright
Try It
Write a poem about your favorite sports team or player. For an added challenge, try writing your poem in the ode form of Epinicia like Pindar. Talk about the skill, the athleticism, the excitement, colors, sounds, and most of all… the victory!
Featured Poem
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here’s a poem pieced word by magnetic word from Jen:
My symphony swims
the delirious blue wind
in a peach and honey smeared sky
like a sea whispering dreams
of sweet rose forest springs
we will sing the shadows away
Photo by Pai Shih. Creative Commons via Flickr.
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How to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.
“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland
- Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
- Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
- Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018
Rick Maxson says
The Complete Angler
October boasts of the Walleye and Crappie,
But I wade the White,
Where Brown and Rainbow find their way
To where my graphite and dun wait.
Cold to the bone, the water now,
And my fingers numb,
The sun a fickle friend, clouds of winter gathering.
I cast a weighted line cross-stream,
Barely a ripple made,
Mend and mend again to mind the drift, my charade
Draws up a nose that with a swirl retreats.
Gently I draw in the fly, then fake
A cast or two, then let the tippet fall.
Lighter than a leaf of Sycamore
Disguised in the water’s
course and corrugation lays the bait.
Now the strike with furious folly comes,
Brown or Rainbow hidden
in the froth and fight,
The rod tip bent
As if to breaking.
Give and take is its own reward,
Before I let the monster go.
Heather Eure says
Love this, Rick! Fall is one of my favorite times of the year for fishing. Fly fishing is fine art, and your poem elevates it. On the Outer Banks, we’re catching red and black drum, bluefish, and trout on the pier and in the surf. Just in case you’re ready to book a fishing trip. 🙂
Rick Maxson says
Thanks, Heather. Are you in NC? Those are the only outer banks I know. I used to go there all the time to Nags Head and Ocracoke. Love Reds. I caught a 60 lb. black drum in the pouring rain when I was 11 years old off a bridge on the Halifax River in Ormond Beach FL I walked it down under the bridge of course. It was huge. A week later the bait lady (that’s the name I gave her) caught one just as big in her jon boat.
Fly fishing is about all I do now. I do plan on going after some Walleye. Best tasting fish there is except maybe Halibut, Cod and Chilean Sea Bass.
Heather Eure says
The very same Outer Banks, Rick. 🙂 Catching a massive Drum at 11 would be an unforgettable experience!
Hope to read more of your fly fishing poems in the future. Poetry and fly fishing pairs well together, don’t you think?