When Potter played in front of me
The other day upon the links,
The mist rolled landward from the sea
(The sleepy Caddie yawns and blinks),
We watched him waggle at the tee
And curl his body into kinks,
When Potter played in front of me
The other day upon the links.
We watched him make the divots flee
And dribble o'er the bunker's brinks,
The dewdrops sparkled on the lea,
The sun shone through the fog bank's chinks.
My partner, hopeful, said to me
"He'll lose, and let us through methinks!"
When Potter played in front of me
The other day upon the links.
The noonday sun looks down in glee
While Potter in the bunker swinks,
He plies the niblick merrily
While Caddie unto Caddie winks.
The crow on yonder tall fir tree
Looks down and caws at such high jinks,
When Potter played in front of me
The other day upon the links.
The shadows fall on land and sea,
The sun to rest in splendour sinks,
And Potter crouched on hand and knee
Thinks out each putt, and thinks and thinks.
We all got home too late for tea!
My mind with grief and horror shrinks
From memory of the day when we
Played after Potter on the links.
1910.