Casey at the bat is a very engaging poem, it makes you want to see what happens next. This is a narrative poem because of the rhyming, and amazingly written tone of the poem. The story is of a baseball game, in the last inning, and towards the middle of the poem, Casey, mighty Casey, steps up to bat. He misses strikes out the first two pitches, the upset crowd calling the umpire a fraud, thinking that the umpire is cheating. The third pitch comes, and as he hits it, the author describes how “somewhere children are laughing,” and so on,”but mighty Casey has struck out.” I think the ending is so suspenseful, and worded and timed perfectly. The laungage of the poem is perfect, the rhyming flows, and isn’t awkward, I don’t think he ever had to stech the storyline to make it rhyme. So suspenseful and thrilling, Casey at the bat is a great piece of narrative poetry.


The main character is Casey. The other characters are the crowd, the umpire, and a few other baseball players. Casey is portrayed at the beginning as calm, sneering, relaxed, and arrogant. He is certain he will win the game for his team. But when the third ball is about to be pitched, the author describes his attitude; “The sneer is gone from Casey’s lips, his teeth are clenched in hate,He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.” Casey, the main character, is portrayed as confident at first, but at the end, when he strikes out, he knows he has failed his team. His attitude is totally different.

The parts of language of the poem that I find makes this poem memorable, funny, and engaging. One piece of language that makes the poem memorable and funny is the last paragraph. How the author ties in how people might be happy in lands far away, but Casey has struck out. It leaves you baffled, laughing, and overall it was very memorable and funny. The whole poem is engaging, a great, and easy to understand story.


The mood of the poem is very complex, because it keeps changing. The crowd is at first tense, waiting to see if Casey will get to the bat. Then they are excited, for the bases were almost loaded, and Casey was at the bat. Then they are angry, calling the Umpire a fraud, and wanting to kill him. The crowd’s mood turns into VERY tense anticipation, seeing if mighty Casey can hit the third pitch. These changing moods are what make up most of the poem, and they add definition to it.