Grantland Rice poem about the Gophers

[snackeru]

Did you know Grantland Rice, of "Four Horsemen" fame, wrote a poem about our beloved Gophers? Here is his poem from 1936:

The Return of the Norsemen

Written and Dedicated to Bernie Bierman

I saw the march of Atilla when I was but a lad
I shared a tent with Caesar when his legions pounded Gaul
I crossed the Alps with Hannibal, before he got in bad
I'd rather see the Gophers when they start to rush the ball

I hear the rolling thunder of their sweep along the field
I see the crash of bodies as they strike by flank and line
I see the ghostly outlines of the Norseman's sword and shield
As blockers clear the highway where their speedy halfbacks shine

From T.C.U. to Michigan--from Stanford to Yale
From Oregon to Florida--from Tennessee to Maine
Beware the thrust and parry when the Viking's on the trail
Or Bernie Bierman's Gophers start their push along the plain

I spent a month with Genghis Khan, the terror of his time
I saw a Grecian phalanx work in Alexander's day
But when it comes to power, speed, and savage, flowing rhyme
I'd rather see the Gophers march in Bernie Bierman's way

I cheered when Fuzzy-Wuzzy broke the steel-rimmed British square
On Lodi's bridge with Bonaparte I saw him head for fame
But here's to Bernie Bierman and the crown he ought to wear
And here's to Minnesota--and the glory of the game.

Not too shabby, heh?

 

[husker70]

He aslo coined the phrase, they scurried around the field like golden gophers.

 

[KD6-3.7]

Not too shabby, heh?

it is not too shabby. even though the meter is lumbering and banal (and something happened to the fourteeners in the first two lines of the third stanza), i really like the overall conceit.

it is has similarities with "sympathy for the devil" by the stones, or should i say the other way around.

where did you find this?

 

[supadupafly]

bump

 

[Formo]

Great bump. Where DID he find that?

 

[zambam]

That's what I want to know. To the google!

EDIT:
Sadly in my searches I wasn't able to find where this came from. If I had to guess it would be from the 1941 book Only the Brave and Other Poems but I have no way to be sure.

 

[KD6-3.7]

That's what I want to know. To the google!

EDIT:
Sadly in my searches I wasn't able to find where this came from. If I had to guess it would be from the 1941 book Only the Brave and Other Poems but I have no way to be sure.

i googled the sh1t out of it and couldn't find anything.

this is from the days when sports writers were writers first and sports second. sadly, this kind of writing wouldn't get past an editor at bleacher report now-a-days.

 

[zambam]

Yes it is. It's obvious this isn't one of his three or so famous poems so there is no way to find it unless you have the books themselves.

 

[Gopher07]

That's what I want to know. To the google!

EDIT:
Sadly in my searches I wasn't able to find where this came from. If I had to guess it would be from the 1941 book Only the Brave and Other Poems but I have no way to be sure.

Looks like the U has a copy of it somewhere in their stacks. I suggest someone go looking That's my best guess for the book as well, after googling like crazy.

 

[zambam]

Looks like the U has a copy of it somewhere in their stacks. I suggest someone go looking That's my best guess for the book as well, after googling like crazy.

I was disappointed my school didn't have it, but I also understand cause it's a teaching college.