football poem

SadDrake13

Looking for the poem 1971 ohio school district history book,which with the last line: and we will stand as they did on that last white line. Any help would be appreciated.

knitdan

Found this 5 pages deep on a Google search



UNDER THE GOAL POSTS

By Arthur Guiterman
Published in The Ballad-Maker’s Pack by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1921

WE had battered their weakening rush line till it gave like a wisp of grass
To the push of the padded shoulder and the brunt of the plunging mass.
And thrice, by our heavy rushes and runs that would stir your soul,
We had carried the grass-stained football in triumph beyond their goal.

Defeated, wearied, hopeless, five minutes more to play,
They lined beneath their goal posts our dearest foes, at bay.
Across the trampled oval there boomed a steady roar
That shook the crowded benches, demanding "One more score!"

Their plucky little quarter held up a muddy hand;
We heard his hearty whisper: "We’ll hold ‘em; now, boys, stand!"
We hurled our weight upon them; their center met the shock
Well-braced, with hip and shoulder, and held us like a rock.

Again we charged; they wavered, they bent and swayed and then
They surged as ocean surges and bore us back again.
We tried for goal; our full-back drove the pigskin clean and fair;
Their sturdy guards came leaping through and blocked it in the air.

Each arm became a bulwark, each chest became a shield,
And steady as a phalanx they bucked us down the field
Until the last shrill whistle and banners wildly tossed
Proclaimed the game was over. We’d won, and they had lost.

They lost, yet half in triumph. ‘Tis not that I would seem
To dim the cloudless glories of our great, unbeaten team,
But still, should fortune fail us at length, the hope is mine
That we may stand as they did upon the last white line;
That we may show the courage and stubbornness of soul
That balked our eager rushers beneath their very goal.

SadDrake13

Thank you very much. Penny Arcade fans are the best.I knew you would
be able to help.