e Shaft apply,
Content to send away a fair straight Ball,
Though follow'd earthward by the naked Eye.

XXXIII

AND if the Ball you drive, the Shaft you press,
End in what all begins and ends in--Yes;
Thank Heav'n you play TO-DAY as YESTERDAY
You play'd--TO-MORROW you shall not do less.

XXXIV

GLAD if the Master of the Handicap
At last shall find you come without Mishap,
Though without Glory, to turn in the Card
He has expected of your sort of Chap.

XXXV

WHAT though a Fluke should fling your Class aside,
And Best Gross be your momentary pride:
Are you a Golfer more than when last week
You did YOUR best, and barely saved your Hide?

XXXVI

'TIS like a private Bar where for a Day
Innumerable Rickies come your way,
Happy--but on the morrow happier far
Had there been less to drink and more to pay.

XXXVII

AND fear not lest the Fair Green after your
Ill-luck and mine should yield Bad Lies no more;
One or two Others may fare ill as you:
Nay, even three, or maybe--maybe four.

XXXVIII

WHEN you and I our final Match have play'd,
Think not the ever-springing Green shall fade;
Which of our Coming and Departure heeds
As Caddies heed the Bag,--their Quarter paid.

XXXIX

A MOMENT'S Flight--a momentary Flick
Of Being from the Providential Stick,
And Lo!--the phantom human Sphere has reacht
The Nothing it set out from--Ah, be quick!

XL

WOULD you that Fillip of Existence spend
About THE SECRET--quick about it, Friend!
A Hair perhaps divides the False and True,
And upon what, prithee, does this Golf depend?

XLI

A HAIR perhaps divides the False and True,
Yes, and a single Jamie were the Clue--
Could you but find him--to the Championship,
And peradventure to the Champion too.

XLII

AND yet what matter who a Moment reigns?
'Tis not for such a Toy you take your pains;
To play the steady, simple, honest Game;
That is the Joy and Credit that remains.

XLIII

BEHIND the uprisen Turf fair in the Ditch,
To risk the Overhang, or play back--which
To do? Ah, Brother, let the Gallery go:
Than tear the Web, better to drop a Stitch!

XLIV

TWO--Three--aye, better Golf we all have seen--
But--bravo! Four--a sweet Approach and Clean;
Steady, you still may well go down in Five:
There are no Hazards on the Putting-Green.

XLV

WASTE not your Hour, nor try in vain to fix
The How and Why--some wondrous Brew to mix;