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:
- Sleep by Russell Edson
- A Piece Of The Storm by Mark Strand
- Владимир Британишский – Край Земли
- The Columbian Exchange Beginning With Spanish Colonization
- Lunar Eclipse by Satish Verma
- Алексей Жемчужников – Заколдованный месяц
- let us go with no care by Raj Arumugam
- In this World by Wendell Berry
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Ночью
- Before You Returned by Shahida Latif
- The First Part: Sonnet 2 – I know that all beneath the moon decays by William Drummond
- Raise the head, child by Vinko Kalinić
- The Two Terrors poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Владимир Набоков – И видел я, стемнели неба своды
- The Cactus
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
- Parliament Hill Fields by Sylvia Plath
- Paralytic by Sylvia Plath
- Owl by Sylvia Plath
- Ouija by Sylvia Plath
- Night Shift by Sylvia Plath
- Natural History by Sylvia Plath
- Mystic by Sylvia Plath
- Owl by Sylvia Plath
- Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath
- Ouija by Sylvia Plath
- Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
- Night Shift by Sylvia Plath
- Moonrise by Sylvia Plath
- Natural History by Sylvia Plath
- Mirror by Sylvia Plath
- Mystic by Sylvia Plath
- Midsummer Mobile by Sylvia Plath
- Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath
- Metaphors by Sylvia Plath
- Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
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.