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:
- Ballade Of Queen Anne poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Зинаида Александрова – Гибель Чапаева
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Ryssel Guzman
- Robert Burns: In The Prospect Of Death:
- Commination
- Time To Transplant by Nijole Miliauskaite
- For A Fatherless Son by Sylvia Plath
- Ольга Берггольц – Не сына, не младшего брата
- Аля Кудряшева – И кстати, еще бывает уездный гор
- A Confession To A Friend In Trouble by Thomas Hardy
- Light by Rabindranath Tagore
- Алишер Навои – То не заросли тюльпанов
- Владимир Луговской – Повелитель бумаги
- You Will Forget! by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Fine Apricot Lodge by Wang Wei
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
- To Heal by Nithin Purple
- Time To Transplant by Nijole Miliauskaite
- They Tell Of The Warsaw Uprising by Nijole Miliauskaite
- The Witching Hour by Norma Martiri
- The Walk by Noel Angelo Hurley
- The Song of the Cheerful (but slightly sarcastic) Jesus by Oliver St. John Gogarty
- The place that is dark without space and the moonlight off the pond (The Gray) by Olivia Lewis
- The Last Whisper by Nizar Sartawi
- The Fire by Nin Andrews
- The Blacksmith by Olga Dytyniak
- The Battle of an National Icon by Norma Martiri
- The Visit by Nijole Miliauskaite
- That Summer by Nijole Miliauskaite
- Temporary City by Nijole Miliauskaite
- Synesthesia by Orla McGreevy
- Summer Enclosed In A Semi-Dark Cup by Nijole Miliauskaite
- Sound and Spirit by Oladele Hussein
- Song of Medical Dick and Medical Davy by Oliver St. John Gogarty
- Sleeping for Kafka by Nin Andrews
- Sitting Beside The Very Street by Nijole Miliauskaite
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.