He fought like those Who've nought to lose－1
Bestowed Himself to Balls
As One who for a further Life
Had not a further Use－
Invited Death－with bold attempt－5
But Death was Coy of Him
As Other Men, were Coy of Death－
To Him－to live－was Doom－
His Comrades, shifted like the Flakes 9
When Gusts reverse the Snow－
But He－was left alive Because
Of Greediness to die－
Bestowed Himself to Balls
As One who for a further Life
Had not a further Use－
Invited Death－with bold attempt－5
But Death was Coy of Him
As Other Men, were Coy of Death－
To Him－to live－was Doom－
His Comrades, shifted like the Flakes 9
When Gusts reverse the Snow－
But He－was left alive Because
Of Greediness to die－
(F.480/J.759)
[2] Balls:: a game with balls, not the cannon balls.
[5] Invited Death:: looked for risk.
[6] Death:: failure.
[7] Death:: falling on the ice.
[8] live:: stand and move on the ice.
[10] Snow:: in a snowing winter, a hint on ice.
[11] alive:: energetic.
[12] die:: to reach the climax by scoring.
Hockey on the Ice. Has anyone a tennis-ball? Yes, here is one, and－hurrah! now for hockey! We are about forty; let us range ourselves, twenty on a side. That will do. Now we take the pool lengthways, and have a clear course of about a quarter of a mile, each side owning a narrow space, marked off at one end, as its goal. ─ Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country (1861)