The Last Leap
by Adam Lindsay Gordon
ALL is over! fleet career,
Dash of greyhound slipping thongs,
Flight of falcon, bound of deer,
Mad hoof-thunder in our rear,
Cold air rushing up our lungs,
Din of many tongues.
Once again, one struggle good,
One vain effort;—he must dwell
Near the shifted post, that stood
Where the splinters of the wood,
Lying in the torn tracks, tell
How he struck and fell.
Crest where cold drops beaded cling,
Small ear drooping, nostril full,
Glazing to a scarlet ring,
Flanks and haunches quivering,
Sinews stiffening, void and null,
Dumb eyes sorrowful.
Satin coat that seems to shine
Duller now, black braided tress
That a softer hand than mine
Far away was wont to twine,
That in meadows far from this
Softer lips might kiss.
All is over! this is death,
And I stand to watch thee die,
Brave old horse! with bated breath
Hardly drawn through tight-clenched teeth,
Lip indented deep, but eye
Only dull and dry.
Musing on the husk and chaff
Gathered where life’s tares are sown,
Thus I speak, and force a laugh,
That is half a sneer and half
An involuntary groan,
In a stifled tone—
‘Rest, old friend! thy day, though rife
With its toil, hath ended soon;
We have had our share of strife,
Tumblers in the masque of life,
In the pantomime of noon
Clown and pantaloon.
‘With a flash that ends thy pain,
Respite and oblivion blest
Come to greet thee. I in vain
Fall: I rise to fall again:
Thou hast fallen to thy rest—
And thy fall is best
A few random poems:
- The Dead Woman by Pablo Neruda, La Muerta
- Зинаида Александрова – Лошадка
- Meeting and Passing by Robert Frost
- In A Vacant House by Philip Levine
- Владимир Высоцкий – Граждане, ах, сколько ж я не пел
- Middle Age
- Cascade by Robert Desnos
- Mornèn by William Barnes
- Олег Бундур – Железное здоровье
- Fairy Land iv by William Shakespeare
- Again And Again, However We Know The Landscape Of Love by Rainer Maria Rilke
- An Old Man’s Winter Night by Robert Frost
- Morning Midday And Evening Sacrifice poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Олег Григорьев – Зашли мы к Сизову с приятелем
- Sunshine by Vachel Lindsay
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Robert Burns: The Farewell:
- Robert Burns: Stanzas On Naething: Extempore Epistle to Gavin Hamilton, Esq.
- Robert Burns: Lines Written On A Banknote:
- Robert Burns: Lines To Mr. John Kennedy:
- Robert Burns: Motto Prefixed To The Author’s First Publication:
- Robert Burns: Lines To An Old Sweetheart:
- Robert Burns: The Lass O’ Ballochmyle:
- Robert Burns: Epitaph On “Wee Johnie”: Hic Jacet wee Johnie.
- Robert Burns: Epitaph For Gavin Hamilton, Esq.:
- Robert Burns: Epitaph For Robert Aiken, Esq.:
- Robert Burns: A Bard’s Epitaph:
- Robert Burns: Farewell To Eliza:
- Robert Burns: On A Scotch Bard, Gone To The West Indies:
- Robert Burns: The Farewell To the Brethren of St. James’ Lodge, Tarbolton:
- Robert Burns: Versified Note To Dr. Mackenzie, Mauchline:
- Robert Burns: A Dedication : To Gavin Hamilton, Esq.
- Robert Burns: A Dream: Thoughts, words, and deeds, the Statute blames with reason; But surely Dreams were ne’er indicted Treason. On reading, in the public papers, the Laureate’s Ode, with the other parade of June 4th, 1786, the Author was no sooner dropt asleep, than he imagined himself transported to the Birth-day Levee: and, in his dreaming fancy, made the following Address:
- Robert Burns: Address Of Beelzebub: To the Right Honourable the Earl of Breadalbane, President of the Right Honourable and Honourable the Highland Society, which met on the 23rd of May last at the Shakespeare, Covent Garden, to concert ways and means to frustrate the designs of five hundred Highlanders, who, as the Society were informed by Mr. M’Kenzie of Applecross, were so audacious as to attempt an escape from their lawful lords and masters whose property they were, by emigrating from the lands of Mr. Macdonald of Glengary to the wilds of Canada, in search of that fantastic thing-Liberty.
- Robert Burns: Epistle To A Young Friend:
- Robert Burns: My Highland Lassie, O:
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833 – 1870) was an Australian or British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He is considered to be one of the first national Australian poets.