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:
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Не надо
- Meditation on a Bone
- Myself and Mine. by Walt Whitman
- Leili by Sarojini Naidu
- Immaculacy by Satish Verma
- Nube by Manolo Arriola
- Виктор Гончаров – Дождь
- athens_stone_of_sapphire_of_ground_the_ring.html
- Низами Гянджеви – Тропы мне ни в духан, ни к богу нету
- Desmond’s Song by Thomas Moore
- A Witch by William Barnes
- Specimen Of An Induction To A Poem poem – John Keats poems
- Channels by Shel Silverstein
- Владимир Корнилов – Повторение
- Burns’s Statue At Irvine poem – Alfred Austin
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
- In spring and summer winds may blow by Walter Savage Landor
- Death Stands Above Me, Whispering Low by Walter Savage Landor
- Proud Word You Never Spoke by Walter Savage Landor
- God Scatters Beauty by Walter Savage Landor
- Remain! by Walter Savage Landor
- I Strove with None by Walter Savage Landor
- Absence by Walter Savage Landor
- Dirce by Walter Savage Landor
- Autumn by Walter Savage Landor
- On His Seventy-fifth Birthday by Walter Savage Landor
- On His Eightieth Birthday by Walter Savage Landor
- Lately our poets by Walter Savage Landor
- Ianthe’s Question by Walter Savage Landor
- F?sulan Idyl by Walter Savage Landor
- Finis by Walter Savage Landor
- Dying Speech of an Old Philosopher by Walter Savage Landor
- Alciphron and Leucippe by Walter Savage Landor
- Acon and Rhodope by Walter Savage Landor
- Morning Poem #59 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #43 by Wanda Phipps
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.