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:
- Wednesday by Marvin Bell
- For Roman Polanski by Nijole Miliauskaite
- A Moments Indulgence by Rabindranath Tagore
- Epigram to Miss Ainslie in Church by Robert Burns
- Bliss Of Eternity by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Threshold by Rabindranath Tagore
- Last Curtain by Rabindranath Tagore
- The Woman And The Flame
- Юлия Друнина – Два вечера
- For The Country by Philip Levine
- Sic Vos Non Vobis
- A Poem Of Love by Walter William Safar
- Олег Григорьев – Пляж давно опустел
- For The Anniversary Of John Keats’ Death by Sara Teasdale
- The Captive Trumpeter by William Somervile
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
- Владимир Набоков – Стансы (Ничем не смоешь подписи косой)
- Владимир Набоков – Спроси у хрустальной луны
- Владимир Набоков – Скитальцы
- Владимир Набоков – Шахматный конь
- Владимир Набоков – Санкт-Петербург
- Владимир Набоков – Расстрел
- Владимир Набоков – Путь
- Владимир Набоков – Пускай все горестней и глуше
- Владимир Набоков – Простая песня, грусть простая
- Владимир Набоков – Поэт
- Владимир Набоков – Памяти друга
- Владимир Набоков – Осень
- Владимир Набоков – О, любовь, ты светла и крылата
- Владимир Набоков – О чем я думаю
- Владимир Набоков – На сельском кладбище
- Владимир Набоков – Мечтал я о тебе так часто
- Владимир Набоков – Лыжный прыжок
- Владимир Набоков – Кубы
- Владимир Набоков – Кинематораф
- Владимир Набоков – Какое сделал я дурное дело
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.