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:
- Outsong in the Jungle by Rudyard Kipling
- Владимир Британишский – Очереди
- Zummer Thoughts In Winter Time by William Barnes
- Book Fourteenth [conclusion] by William Wordsworth
- Down By The Salley Gardens by William Butler Yeats
- For the Men at the Front by John Oxenham
- Les Roses de Sâdi poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Turns by Tony Harrison
- Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony by Shel Silverstein
- A Woman Waking by Philip Levine
- Allegro Maestoso by William Ernest Henley
- Immigrants by Robert Frost
- It’s Dark in Here by Shel Silverstein
- Early summer rain by Yosa Buson
- Михаил Лермонтов – Я не хочу, чтоб свет узнал
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
- Of Three Or Four In The Room by Yehuda Amichai
- Near The Wall Of A House by Yehuda Amichai
- My Father by Yehuda Amichai
- My Child Wafts Peace by Yehuda Amichai
- Memorial Day For The War Dead by Yehuda Amichai
- Love Of Jerusalem by Yehuda Amichai
- Jerusalem by Yehuda Amichai
- If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem by Yehuda Amichai
- I Want To Die In My Own Bed by Yehuda Amichai
- I Know A Man by Yehuda Amichai
- I Have Become Very Hairy by Yehuda Amichai
- I Don’t Know If History Repeats Itself by Yehuda Amichai
- Half The People In The World by Yehuda Amichai
- God Has Pity On Kindergarten Children by Yehuda Amichai
- God Full Of Mercy by Yehuda Amichai
- Forgetting Someone by Yehuda Amichai
- Ein Yahav by Yehuda Amichai
- Do Not Accept by Yehuda Amichai
- Before by Yehuda Amichai
- And We Shall Not Get Excited by Yehuda Amichai
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.