The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Casey fans that day,For their favorite ballad's history was fading fast away.
So when "Casey's Wife" was hard to find, and other poems were worse,
A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the verse.
A staggering few gave up the search, leaving there the rest,
With hope that springs eternal, within the human breast.
For they thought if only Gardner would take a careful look,
They'd put their hard-earned money down, if Gardner wrote a book.
But collecting all the parodies was too much work to do;
Mad Magazine had written one; and Grantland Rice wrote two.
And so the stricken multitude might never get to know 'em,
For there seemed but little chance of learning all about the poem.
But Dover publications has a Casey book to read,
With every bit of Casey lore that you will ever need.
To find these old forgotten poems, you need just take a look,
For Gardner, Martin Gardner, has compiled them in a book.
There is fun in Gardner's comments; there is wit from this old sage;
There are reams of careful research, and notes on every page.
So if you click the button, and wait a day or two,
There'll be Casey on your bookshelf, with all the others, too.
...
Oh, somewhere in these fabled lands, the sun is all too dim,
A band is silent somewhere, and somewhere hopes are slim,
And baseball lore is fading, and no one cares a bit,
But there is great joy in Mudville - Martin Gardner's scored a hit!
