And though my head felt heavy, I played on till dusk Missing flies and pop-ups and grounders And calling out in desperation things like “Yours” and “take it,” but doing all right, Tugging at my cap in just the right way, Crouching low, my feet set. “Hum baby” sweetly on my lips. —“How I Learned English,” Gregory Djanikan The poem is written in first-person point of view. What does knowing this information allow readers to do? imagine what it is like to play baseball peek into the speaker’s mind understand the slang of baseball know what the other characters are doing

explanation:

yessum

a friend in need is a short story written by william somerset maugham. in the story, the main character (whose name is never mentioned) reflects upon the fact that people appearances do not tell us the reality of their personalities. in fact, the character states that his longtime and friends are the ones that he have known the less, as he mentions in the first paragraph of the text: “my oldest friends are just those of whom i can say that i don't know.”the character supports this idea by narrating an experience that happened with his friend edward hyde burton.

in the first place, the main theme of the story is the people real personalities beyond their cover. furthermore, he states that even the nicest friends can have dark personalities. using the example of burton:

“i think the chief thing that struck me about burton was his kindliness. there was something very pleasing in his mild blue eyes. his voice was gentle; you could not imagine that he could raise it in anger; his smile was kind. here was a man who attracted you because you felt in him a real love for his fellows.”

subsequently, the character narrates the events that led him to come to this belief. burton told him about a poor man (also name burton) that once came to his office in seek for an employ. burton agreed with the man that he would give him a job if he was able to swim around “the beacon and landed at the creek of tarumi.” eventually the man drowned due to his terrible health.  

finally, the character concludes his remark by mentioning the satirical response of burton when he is asked if he had thought of the man’s possible fate:  

"when you offered him the job, did you know that he'd be drowned?

he gave a little mild chuckle and he looked at me with those kind blue eyes of his. he rubbed his chin with his hand.

well, i hadn't got a vacancy in my office at the moment."

here’s the link of the text: