Thursday, October 31, 2013

SoxSpeare: A Sonnet on the World Series Victory of the Red Sox in 2013

Jones, Keith. "A Sonnet on the World Series Victory of the Red Sox in 2013." 31 October 2013.

The wager was made (for which, q.v.).

And now it's time to pay up.

I am very sad that the Cardinals did not win the World Series this year, but I must genuinely and sincerely acknowledge the true majesty of the Red Sox. They played astonishingly well.

At the end of the regular season, both teams were at the top of their divisions, tied with each other for the best win / loss percentage in baseball:  .599.  They were well-matched, and the World Series was filled with thrilling plays.

To honor my bet with Shakespeare Geek, I have written a sonnet in praise of the Red Sox.  Enjoy.

A Sonnet on the World Series Victory of the Red Sox in 2013

Wear red upon your feet with hoops of steel.
Eat beans and cod and things Bostonians like.
Beware the vast green monster in left field.
It mocks the very balls that do it strike.
The Cardinals cannot say you taunt or tease—
We cannot blame the outcome on a curse.
We fear the beard and batting of Ortiz.
Of two teams meeting, one must be the worse.
Two teams, alike in dignity, did meet;
The Red Sox are the better team this fall.
Impediments did not impede your feet:
Your fielding, hitting, running stunned us all.
I must reply, to all repeated queries,
“The mighty Red Sox won this year’s World Series.”

Note: This sonnet made its way into a news story by KSDK reporter Anne Allred about bets that St. Louisans have had to settle since the end of the World Series:

6 comments:

Duane Morin said...

Exceedingly well done, my friend. A tremendous series, one for the ages. Let's do it again next year.

Papa Pantaloon said...

I agree with DM. I would only add that the wager was a brilliant idea and I hope to read The Geek's sonnet next year.

Papa Pantaloon said...

One week later, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis (KSD) did a feature on Cardinals fans paying off their wagers. Bardfilm's Sonnet to the Sox was heralded as "perhaps the most unusual" of the accounts settled. I'll say!

Lara said...

Bravo, bravo!

JM said...

Excellent display of poesy prowess, kj!! Even though it *had* to be about extolling the virtues of the Red Sox.

We Yankee fans have a much more succinct method of vocalizing our high opinion of the Sox. Attend Yankee stadium when they visit and you'll hear it in a chorus of 40,000 plus.

Bravo to you! Great sonnet.
JM

kj said...

Thanks, JM. I appreciate it!

kj

Bardfilm is normally written as one word, though it can also be found under a search for "Bard Film Blog." Bardfilm is a Shakespeare blog (admittedly, one of many Shakespeare blogs), and it is dedicated to commentary on films (Shakespeare movies, The Shakespeare Movie, Shakespeare on television, Shakespeare at the cinema), plays, and other matter related to Shakespeare (allusions to Shakespeare in pop culture, quotes from Shakespeare in popular culture, quotations that come from Shakespeare, et cetera).

Unless otherwise indicated, quotations from Shakespeare's works are from the following edition:
Shakespeare, William. The Riverside Shakespeare. 2nd ed. Gen. ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
All material original to this blog is copyrighted: Copyright 2008-2039 (and into perpetuity thereafter) by Keith Jones.

The very instant that I saw you did / My heart fly to your service; there resides, / To make me slave to it; and, for your sake, / Am I this patient [b]log-man.

—The Tempest