Not much, to be sure, forty pounds, say, or thereabout.
Still, that much should tell 'gainst the smartest of eights;
It should give us the race, which is all that we care about.
'Twill be a close fight, bet your boots about that,
If we get a clear course without serious obstruction,
Of which I'm not sanguine; the practice of Pat
Has proved to possess universal seduction.
Our last spin was muffed; never mind whose the fault;
Let bygones be bygones! But now comes the crisis!
It's now win or lose. Every man worth his salt