The Lost Ball – Golf Poetry

THE LOST BALL 

A LITTLE lost ball am I, the last 
    In a dozen, smooth and white; 
By a terrible, terrible man harassed 
    I tremblingly rushed from sight. 
In a certain haven I hide, apart, 
    As only a golf ball can —
 A victim I, with a broken heart, 
    Of the wicked deceit of man. 

My owner — his name I will ne'er disclose; 
    You would guess and guess in vain —
 Was reckoned as godly a man that grows, 
    And never, no, never, profane. 
Repute that even with faith instilled 
    Such a spotless soul as I!
And while he waggled, with joy I thrilled,
    There at his feet to lie.

He swung his weapon — I turned my face, 
    Awaiting the swift descent. 
But lo, the earth for an awesome space 
    Was battered and torn and rent! 
He swung again, with a playful smile. 
    And a manner stern, austere — 
The club but whistled above, the while 
    It sundered the air, anear ! 

And then, and then, in a sudden rage. 
    He flourished that errant cleek, 
And not for worlds would I soil this page 
    With the words I heard him speak! 
He waggled not, and ho used no care, 
    Nor measured the clean, straight course; 
But oh, the pains that he took to swear! 
    And he smote with all his force. 

'Twas a grievous blow (in a two-fold sense) 
    And shocked and amazed I fled. 
O'er green and bunker and barbed-wire fence 
    My shuddering flight was led. 
And here I slumber, 'mid converse sweet, 
    Of rabbit and mouse and bird; 
And try to forget, in my calm retreat. 
    The terrible things I heard. 

E. L. Sabin, in Lyrics of the Links, published in 1921

E.L. Sabin, or Edwin Legrand Sabin (1870 – 1952)_ was primarly known for his boy’s adventure stories, mostly westerns.

His work appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Weird tales and All-Story, among others. His first book, The Magic Mashie and Other Goldfish Stories, was a collection of stories about golf.

Sabin is perhaps best known for his well-researched biography of Kit Carson, Kit Carson Days. For what it’s worth, I remember reading that in junior high school.