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:
- My Heritage
- Vacant Lot With Pokeweed poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Clime Of My Birth by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Владимир Британишский – Красный конь
- A Boundless Moment by Robert Frost
- The Circus Animals’ Desertion by William Butler Yeats
- a_choka_is_a_littoral_drift.html
- Two Songs for Hedli Anderson by W. H. Auden
- Алексей Плещеев – Ее мне жаль
- Ballad Of The Press-Gang At Shihao Village by Du Fu
- Джон Мильтон – Псалом 1
- Robert Burns: Prologue: Spoken by Mr. Woods on his benefit-night, Monday, 16th April, 1787
- English Poetry. Madison Julius Cawein. Going for the Cows. Мэдисон Джулиус Кавейн.
- Kashmiri Song
- Reverie Ofmahomed Akram At The Tamarind Tank
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
- On A Goldfinch, Starved To Death In His Cage by William Cowper
- On A Fowler, By Isidorus by William Cowper
- On A Battered Beauty (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- On A Bath, By Plato by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 9: The Contrite Heart by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 7: Vanity of the World by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 68: Light Shining Out Of Darkness by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 67: Longing To Be With Christ by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 66: I Will Praise The Lord At All Times by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 64: Praise For Faith by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 63: Not Of Works by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 61: The Narrow Way by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 60: Abuse Of The Gospel by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 59: A Living And A Dead Faith by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 57: The New Convert by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 56: Hatred Of Sin by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 55: The Heart Healed And Changed By Mercy by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 54: Love Constraining To Obedience by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 53: My Soul Thirsteth For God by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 52: For The Poor by William Cowper
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.