Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE HORSEMAN (2) by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE

Poet Analysis

First Line: THERE WAS A HORSEMAN RODE SO FAST
Last Line: SINCE BOTH WERE NOW LEAGUES -- LEAGUES AWAY.

There was a Horseman rode so fast
The Sun in heaven stayed still at last.

On, on, and on, his galloping shoon
Gleamed never never beneath the Moon.

The People said, 'Thou must be mad, O
Man with a never-lengthening shadow!

'Mad and bad! Ho! stay thy course,
Thou and thy never-stabled horse!

'Oh, what a wild and wicked sight --
A Horseman never dark with night!

'Depart from us, depart from us,
Thou and thy lank-maned Pegasus!'. . .

They talked into declining day,
Since both were now leagues -- leagues away.



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