Poem by Norman Rowland Gale

Two Critics

When that I was a little lad
  I dearly loved Amelia James;
She always seemed sunshiny glad,
  And took such notice of the games!

Selina, who was Acton's pet,
  Distinctly looked prepared to scratch;
She never stood behind the net,
  And never came to watch a match.

But Miss Amelia took such pride
  In all our study and our sport,
That once I think she nearly cried
  When half our team got out for nought.

She knew the secrets of the slips;
  And when a friend or foe played well
A cheer came from her kindly lips
  That made a fellow feel a Swell!

We loved to see her freckled face,
  We loved to hear her jolly fun;
We searched her out a shady place,
  And clapped with her the stolen run.

I loved her most of all the men,
  For Mother's eyes were such a blue;
I loved her as a boy of ten
  Can love a girl of twenty-two!

One day we played a rival team,
  And I made eighty-four, not out;
I knew Amelia's face would beam,
  And sometimes heard her pretty shout!

At night the Doctor sent for me
  And said my feat was not amiss;
Miss James, though, took me on her knee
  And thanked me with a clinking kiss.

1. Up at Lords
2. The Church Cricketant
3. On the Spot
4. A Boundary
5. Five Years After

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