(Another in JDH’s series of ‘anagram challenges’.
The title is an anagram of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.)
Listen, my son, if you would hear
Your exploits toasted year after year,
Know that legends in verse outlive
Banter and beer hall narrative.
Befriend a poet and keep him near.
History seems to make it clear
Fame is rather like drawing straws.
Everyone knows of Paul Revere
But who remembers William Dawes?
The homer you hit for the winning score
Gave you the thrill of a home town roar,
And made you this week's aristocrat,
But it won't outlive for all of that
The story of "Casey at the Bat."