O feeblest game, how strange if you should rise To favour, _vice_ tennis superseded! And yet beneath such glowing summer skies When wildest energy is invalided, Mere hitting balls through little hoops Seems work enough. One merely stoops, And lounges round; no other toil is needed. Upon a breezy lawn beneath the shade Of rustling trees that hide the sky so sunny, I'll play, no steady game as would be played By solemn, earnest folks as though for money-- For love is better. Simply stoop, And hit the ball. It's through the hoop! My partner smiles; she seems to think it funny. My pretty partner, whose bright, laughing eyes Gaze at me while I aim another blow; lo, I've missed because I looked at her! With sighs I murmur an apologetic solo. The proudest athlete here might stoop, To hit a ball just through a hoop, And say the game--with her--beats golf and polo. * * * * * [Illustration: CRICKET--THE PRIDE OF THE VILLAGE "Good match, old fellow?" "Oh, yes; awfully jolly!" "What did you do?" "I 'ad a hover of Jackson; the first ball 'it me on the 'and, the second 'ad me on the knee; the third was in my eye; and the fourth bowled me out!" [_Jolly game._ ] * * * * * ADVICE TO YOUNG CROQUET-PLAYERS [Illustration] 1. Always take your own mallet to a garden party. This will impress everyone with the idea that you are a fine player. Or an alternative plan is to play with one provided by your host, and then throughout the game to attribute every bad stroke to the fact that you have not your own implement with you. [Illustration] 2. Use as many technical terms as you can, eking them out with a few borrowed from golf. Thus it will always impress your partner if you say that you are "stimied," especially as she won't know what it means. But a carefully-nurtured reputation may be destroyed at once if you confuse "roquet" with "croquet," so be very careful that you get these words right. 3. Aim for at least three minutes before striking the ball, and appear overcome with amazement when you miss. If you have done so many times in succession, it may be well to remark on the unevenness of the ground. If you hit a ball by mistake always pretend that you aimed at it.