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:
- Robert Burns: Versicles On Sign-Posts :
- Sonnet To Byron poem – John Keats poems
- If you love the life by Vinko Kalinić
- Robert Burns: Burlesque Lament For The Absence Of William Creech, Publisher:
- What Work Is by Philip Levine
- Sonnet # 17 by Luis A. Estable
- Temper Of Time by Sylvia Plath
- A Fairy Tale poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Married Peäir’s Love Walk by William Barnes
- Жан Расин – Решенье принято, час перемены пробил
- The Last Wolf by Mary TallMountain
- Юлия Друнина – Я курила недолго, давно, на войне
- Федор Сологуб – Слепой судьбе противореча
- Couplet 1 poem – Amir Khusro poems | Poems and Poetry
- Winter – The Fourth Pastoral, or Daphne poem – Alexander Pope
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
- Up The Line by Will McKendree Carleton
- Uncle Sammy by Will McKendree Carleton
- The New Church Organ by Will McKendree Carleton
- The Littlle Black-Eyed Rebel by Will McKendree Carleton
- The House Where We Were Wed by Will McKendree Carleton
- The Fading Flower by Will McKendree Carleton
- The Editor’s Guests by Will McKendree Carleton
- The Country Doctor by Will McKendree Carleton
- Thanksgiving Day by Will McKendree Carleton
- Over The Hill From The Poor-House by Will McKendree Carleton
- Our Army Of The Dead by Will McKendree Carleton
- One And Two by Will McKendree Carleton
- Johnny Rich by Will McKendree Carleton
- Autumn Days by Will McKendree Carleton
- Apple-Blossoms by Will McKendree Carleton
- Two Songs Of Advent by Yvor Winters
- On Teaching The Young by Yvor Winters
- Dark spring by Yvor Winters
- Where My Sight Goes by Yvor Winters
- To Emily Dickinson by Yvor Winters
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.