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:
- Владимир Солоухин – Вдоль берегов Болгарии прошли мы
- Олег Бундур – Ближе к снегу
- Владимир Маяковский – Помощь не придет на такой вой… (Главполитпросвет №14)
- The Princess In The Tower by Sara Teasdale
- One Whisper of the Beloved by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- A Working Party by Siegfried Sassoon
- Canal Bank Walk by Patrick Kavanagh
- Binsey Poplars poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Untitled IX by Yunus Emre
- Nature And the Book poem – Alfred Austin
- Юлия Жадовская – Всё ты уносишь, нещадное время
- Beyond The Veil by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- He Is Calm, and I Am Too by Mahmoud Darwish
- Start Growing by Rixa White
- Robert Burns: Motto Prefixed To The Author’s First Publication:
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
- Владимир Британишский – В болотах севера Евразии
- Владимир Британишский – Утром 10 мая 1945 года
- Владимир Британишский – Уронили, потеряли
- Владимир Британишский – Урочище
- Владимир Британишский – Унифицированный современный поэт
- Владимир Коркин – Август дозреет яблоком
- Владимир Гиппиус – Закон чего? – закона нет
- Владимир Гиппиус – Узел
- Владимир Гиппиус – Слава
- Владимир Гиппиус – Писать стихи
- Владимир Гиппиус – Иначе, как стихами, говорить
- Владимир Гиппиус – Друг, скажу тебе несказанное
- Владимир Гиппиус стихи: читать все стихотворения, поэмы поэта Владимир Гиппиус – Поэзия на Poetry Monster
- Владимир Гиляровский – Я эоловой арфы струна
- Владимир Гиляровский – Владимирка – большая дорога
- Владимир Гиляровский – Покаюсь
- Владимир Гиляровский – Песня Дона
- Владимир Гиляровский – Нива
- Владимир Гиляровский – На Севере
- Владимир Гиляровский – Кузьма Орел
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.