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:
- Watching Unto God In The Night Season (2) by William Cowper
- Омар Хайям – Друзей поменьше
- To England At The Outbreak Of The Balkan War
- Carol of Words. by Walt Whitman
- Ale by William Henry Davies
- Владимир Маяковский – Реклама Резинотрест
- Sonet 58 by William Alexander
- Валерий Брюсов – Из песен Мальдуна
- Taketh away by Tanisha Avarsekar
- Олег Чупров – Взлетев высоко и прекрасно
- Inscriptions In The Ground Of Coleorton, The Seat Of Sir George Beaumont, Bart., Leicestershire by William Wordsworth
- In The Metropolitan Museum by Sara Teasdale
- Springfield Magical by Vachel Lindsay
- Friday Night At The Royal Station Hotel by Philip Larkin
- Folk Singer’s Blues by Shel Silverstein
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
- Harry Ploughman poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- God’s Grandeur poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- For A Picture Of St. Dorothea poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Felix Randal poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Epithalamion poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Easter Communion poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Duns Scotus’s Oxford poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Denis poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Cheery Beggar poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Carrion Comfort poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Brothers poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Binsey Poplars poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Barnfloor and Winepress poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- At The Wedding March poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Ash-Boughs poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- As Kingfishers Catch Fire poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Andromeda poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- You Ask Me, Why, Tho’ Ill at Ease poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Ulysses poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- To Virgil, Written at the Request of the Mantuans for the N poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
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.