The Ballad Of Casey's Billy-goat Poem Rhyme Scheme

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You've heard of Casey at The Bat	A
And Casey's Tabble Dote	B
But now it's time	C
To write a rhyme	C
Of Casey's Billy goat	B
	-
Pat Casey had a billy goat he gave the name of Shamus	D
Because it was the neighbours said a national disgrace	E
And sure enough that animal was eminently famous	D
For masticating every rag of laundry round the place	E
For shirts to skirts prodigiously it proved its powers of chewing	F
The question of digestion seemed to matter not at all	G
But you'll agree I think with me its limit of misdoing	F
Was reached the day it swallowed Missis Rooney's ould red shawl	G
	-
Now Missis Annie Rooney was a winsome widow women	H
And many a bouncing boy had sought to make her change her name	I
And living just across the way 'twas surely only human	H
A lonesome man like Casey should be wishfully the same	I
So every Sunday shaved and shined he'd make the fine occasion	H
To call upon the lady and she'd take his and coat	B
And supping tea it seemed that she might yield to his persuasion	H
But alas he hadn't counted on that devastating goat	B
	-
For Shamus loved his master with a deep and dumb devotion	H
And everywhere that Casey went that goat would want to go	F
And though I cannot analyze a quadruped's emotion	H
They said the baste was jealous and I reckon it was so	F
For every time that Casey went to call on Missis Rooney	J
Beside the gate the goat would wait with woefulness intense	K
Until one day it chanced that they were fast becoming spooney	J
When Shamus spied that ould red shawl a flutter on the fence	K
	-
Now Missis Rooney loved that shawl beyond all rhyme or reason	J
And maybe 'twas an heirloom or a cherished souvenir	L
For judging by the way she wore it season after season	J
I might have been as precious as a product of Cashmere	L
So Shamus strolled towards it and no doubt the colour pleased him	M
For he biffed it and he sniffed it as most any goat might do	N
Then his melancholy vanished as a sense of hunger seized him	M
And he wagged his tail with rapture as he started in to chew	N
	-
Begorrah you're a daisy said the doting Mister Casey	J
to the blushing Widow Rooney as they parted at the door	O
Wid yer tinderness an' tazin' sure ye've set me heart a blazin'	J
And I dread the day I'll nivver see me Anniw anny more	O
Go on now wid yer blarney said the widow softly sighing	F
And she went to pull his whiskers when dismay her bosom smote	N
Her ould red shawl 'Twas missin' where she'd left it bravely drying	F
Then she saw it disappearing down the neck of Casey's goat	N
	-
Fiercely flamed her Irish temper Look says she The thavin' divvle	G
Sure he's made me shawl his supper Well I hope it's to his taste	N
But excuse me Mister Casey if I seem to be oncivil	G
For I'll nivver wed a man wid such a misbegotten baste	N
So she slammed the door and left him in a state of consternation	J
And he couldn't understand it till he saw that grinning goat	N
Then with eloquence he cussed it and his final fulmination	J
Was a poem of profanity impossible to quote	N
	-
So blasting goats and petticoats and feeling downright sinful	G
Despairfully he wandered in to Shinnigan's shebeen	J
And straightway he proceeded to absorb a might skinful	G
Of the deadliest variety of Shinnigan's potheen	J
And when he started homeward it was in the early morning	F
But Shamus followed faithfully a yard behind his back	F
Then Casey slipped and stumbled and without the slightest warning	F
like a lump of lead he tumbled right across the railroad track	F
	-
And there he lay serenely and defied the powers to budge him	M
Reposing like a baby with his head upon the rail	G
But Shamus seemed unhappy and from time to time would nudge him	M
Though his prods to protestation were without the least avail	G
Then to that goatish mind maybe a sense of fell disaster	P
Came stealing like a spectre in the dim and dreary dawn	J
For his bleat of warning blended with the snoring of his master	P
In a chorus of calamity but Casey slumbered on	J
	-
Yet oh that goat was troubled for his efforts were redoubled	N
Now he tugged at Casey's whisker now he nibbled at his ear	Q
Now he shook him by the shoulder and with fear become bolder	P
He bellowed like a fog horn but the sleeper did not hear	Q
Then up and down the railway line he scampered for assistance	R
But anxiously he hurried back and sought with tug and strain	J
To pull his master off the track when sudden in the distance	R
He heard the roar and rumble of the fast approaching train	J
	-
Did Shamus faint and falter No he stood there stark and splendid	N
True his tummy was distended but he gave his horns a toss	S
By them his goathood's honour would be gallantly defended	N
And if their valour failed him he would perish with his boss	T
So dauntlessly he lowered his head and ever clearer clearer	P
He heard the throb and thunder of the Continental Mail	G
He would face the mighty monster It was coming nearer nearer	P
He would fight it he would smite it but he'd never show his tail	G
	-
Can you see that hirsute hero standing there in tragic glory	J
Can you hear the Pullman porters shrieking horror to the sky	F
No you can't because my story has no end so grim and gory	J
For Shamus did not perish and his master did not die	F
At this very present moment Casey swaggers hale and hearty	J
And Shamus strolls beside him with a bright bell at his throat	N
While recent Missis Rooney is the gayest of the party	J
For now she's Missis Casey and she's crazy for that goat	N
	-
You're wondering what happened Well you know that truth is stranger	P
Than the wildest brand of fiction so Ill tell you without shame	I
There was Shamus and his master in the face of awful danger	P
And the giant locomotive dashing down in smoke and flame	I
What power on earth could save them Yet a golden inspiration	J
To gods and goats alike may come so in that brutish brain	J
A thought was born the ould red shawl Then rearing with elation	J
Like lightning Shamus threw it up AND FLAGGED AND STOPPED THE TRAIN	J

Robert William Service

The Ballad Of Casey's Billy-goat Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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