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 Trial Of A Man by Sylvia Plath
- In this World by Wendell Berry
- Persephone, Falling by Rita Dove
- City Times and Other Poems
- In the End by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Politics poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- Love Sonnet LVIII poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- Tumi Sandhyar Meghamala – You Are A Cluster Of Clouds – Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
- Macer : A Character poem – Alexander Pope
- David Cleek by Siegfried Sassoon
- Inflexible As Fate poem – Alfred Austin
- Black riders came from the sea. by Stephen Crane
- Sonnet 121: Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed by William Shakespeare
- Михаил Лермонтов – Воля
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
- A Journey Through The Moonlight by Russell Edson
- Antimatter by Russell Edson
- A Stone Is Nobody’s by Russell Edson
- Counting Sheep by Russell Edson
- Sleep by Russell Edson
- Paying The Captain by Russell Edson
- Grass by Russell Edson
- Angels by Russell Edson
- Ape by Russell Edson
- Hands by Russell Edson
- The Fall by Russell Edson
- The Family Monkey by Russell Edson
- Elephant Dormitory by Russell Edson
- Conjugal by Russell Edson
- A Historical Breakfast by Russell Edson
- The Essay on Liberty by Abraham Cowley
- Hauntings by Rupert Brooke
- Goddess In The Wood, The by Rupert Brooke
- Flight by Rupert Brooke
- Finding by Rupert Brooke
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.