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:
- 決定
- Федор Сологуб – Под черёмухой цветущей
- Олег Бундур – Для чего бывает день
- Old Homeless Man by Walter William Safar
- Breathing Stars, Inspiration and the Labyrinth of Correspondence
- Robert Burns: Sic A Wife As Willie Had:
- Владимир Маяковский – Чтоб из недели “Заботы о достоянии” толку выйти, вот так, товарищи, агитацию ведите (Главполитпросвет №374)
- Илона Грошева – Мой друг Евгений
- Entranced by Satish Verma
- The Seven Of Pentacles by Marge Piercy
- Behold, As Goblins Dark Of Mien by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Олег Чупров – Путь к Благодати не напрасен
- The Lads in Their Hundreds poem – A. E. Housman
- golden_eangle.html
- On the Countess of Burlington Cutting Paper poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
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
- Will Remain Unseen by Vasil Slavov
- Vietnam Vet befriends an immigrant in Pittsburgh, Pa – ( let’s put it that way ) by Vasil Slavov
- To Somebody Out There by Vashti Trisawati Abhidana
- The Blessed Birth by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Sweet Colonnade by Vasil Slavov
- Shadow Of Liberty by Vattacharja Chandan
- Sea of lavender ( 4 pre-summer poems ) by Vasil Slavov
- No LOVE by venkatesh.valusa
- My life – “An ambiguous journey” by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Let Me Tide Over by Vattacharja Chandan
- Kite by Vattacharja Chandan
- Immortal Indian Legend by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Had Something To Say by Vattacharja Chandan
- Deity of my dreams by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Confession by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Bulgarian Lullaby by Vasil Slavov
- At the bottom by Vasil Slavov
- Wife Killer by Vernon Scannell
- Where Shall We Go? by Vernon Scannell
- Walking Wounded by Vernon Scannell
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.