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:
- Europe, the 72d and 73d years of These States. by Walt Whitman
- Ольга Берггольц – Обещание
- Deeply Morbid by Stevie Smith
- Mirage poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Thousandth Man by Rudyard Kipling
- The battle of fire by Tanisha Avarsekar
- Каждому сроку – свой путь
- The Man Who Dreamed Of Faeryland by William Butler Yeats
- A Bowl Of Roses by William Ernest Henley
- The Statues by William Butler Yeats
- Dungeon by Rabindranath Tagore
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мажорный светофор, трёхцветье, трио
- Николай Огарев – Смутные мгновенья
- Ashore
- After the Sea-Ship. by Walt Whitman
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
- Further Instructions poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Epilogue poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Ezra on the Strike poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Francesca poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Grace Before Song poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Hugh Selwyn Mauberly (Part I) poem – Ezra Pound poems
- In the Old Age of the Soul poem – Ezra Pound poems
- And the days are not full enough poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Canto XIII poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Canto XLIX poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Alba poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Ballad of the Goodly Fere poem – Ezra Pound poems
- E.P. Ode Pour L’election De Son Sepulchre poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Ancient Music poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Cino poem – Ezra Pound poems
- A Pact poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Before Sleep poem – Ezra Pound poems
- An Immorality poem – Ezra Pound poems
- In A Station Of The Metro poem – Ezra Pound poems
- poem6474.html
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.