Analysis Of The Poem 'Casey At The Bat'

In the poem, "Casey at the Bat", the author uses humor to describe Casey's experience more dramatically. The use of humor is used throughout the poem to help us better understand Casey's experience.

In stanza one, Thayer wrote, "And then when Cooney died at first." This humor is an example of hyperbole, it's humorous because it is an exaggeration meant to be funny to the reader or audience. Another example of textual evidence is found in stanza two. "If only Casey could but get a whack at that-we'd put up even money now, with Casey at the bat." This is humor by the author, Thayer, using a technique of rhyme to set the scene. Meaning, the author uses rhyme not to make us laugh, but to help us better understand what he's trying

to describe. Again in stanza seven, Thayer wrote, "Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt", this is an example of personification. Showing that the audience wasn't cheering at all, instead they were disappointed due to the strike. In stanza nine Thayer announces, "Kill him! Kill the umpire!', this shows a somewhat repetition of the word kill, which is used to express how upset the people whom are watching the game are. The last stanza of "Casey at the Bat", includes, "And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout", this is an example of irony. This statement is ironic because the author basically tricks us into thinking that Mudvillle won the game because of the joyfulness of the sentence. However, Mudville didn't win, which is the opposite of what we predicted therefore it itself is ironic. Thayer uses humor in this narrative to show his thoughts and feelings, not in a direct but more complex and advanced manner, making the reader think about what he or she is reading before they can fluently comprehend the text.
To conclude, throughout "Casey at the Bat", Ernest Thayer uses multiple forms of literature humor to help us better understand what's going on throughout the text. The humor used within the narrative is not easily spotted, nor easily understood, without thinking about what the author is saying.