Herman Melville

Sheridan At Cedar Creek

(October, 1864)

Shoe the steed with silver
That bore him to the fray,
When he heard the guns at dawning-
Miles away;
When he heard them calling, calling-
Mount! nor stay:
Quick, or all is lost;
They've surprised and stormed the post.
They push your routed host-
Gallop! retrieve the day.

House the horse in ermine-
For the foam-flake blew
White through red October;
He thundered into view;
They cheered him in the looming,
Horseman and horse they knew.
The turn of the tide began,
The rally of bugles ran,
He swung his hat in the van;
The electric hoof-spark flew.

Wreathe the steed and lead him-
For the charge he led
Touched and turned the cypress
Into amaranths for the head
Of Philip, king of riders,
Who raised them from the dead
The camp (at dawning lost),
By eve, recovered-forced,
Rang with the laughter of the host
At belated Early fled.

Shroud the horse in sable-
For the mounds they heap!
There is firing in the Valley,
And yet no strife they keep;
It is the parting volley,
It is the pathos deep.
There is glory for the brave
Who lead, and nobly save,
But no knowledge in the grave
Where the nameless followers sleep.

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Dark Man

I was in deep, profound sleep,
Suddenly, I heard a quick knock.
I got up and rubbed my eyes.
And oh! it was a great shock!
In thin darkness, I saw a horse-rider,
stood near my semi-dark door.
Who are you and whom do you come for?
'I came crossing the ocean's shore,
to take you there, to king's court.'
The thunderbolt voice replied, then.
Out of sheer fear, I reclined to go.
'I'm at my days end, nothing to gain-'
Told I but, no reply from his end came.
He turned back, and signaled to follow.
Mesmerized I leaving everything
rode on the horse, and bore the wallop.
How long the horse galloped,
I could not tell you all...
The night fell to days lap,
and at last the waning moon did fall.
I heard the sound of ocean's tide,
stopped the horse on its coast!
We, got down from the horse's back-
I saw his mouth's part most.
He was death, and none else,
the dark man took my hand...
A boat came, sailed us away from
the shore lagging behind dust and sand

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One Horse Is No Different From Another

You can lead a horse to the water.
But you can not force that horse to drink.

'I've heard that before.
But that particular horse being forced,
Is already accustomed to the water.
And lives on a reservoir.
When the feeding done on oats and grains,
As well as organically grown carrots...
When it wishes,
Is common.

Why did you select that horse,
When there are a multitude of them...
Dieing from thirst and have not eaten? '

Well...
I really didn't think anyone would notice.
To me,
One horse is no different from another.

'And maybe that is why,
You find yourself in such a predicament.'

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The Norman Horse-Shoe

I.
Red glows the forge in Striguil's bounds,
And hammers din, and anvil sounds,
And armourers, with iron toil,
Barb many a steed for battle's broil,
Foul fall the hand which bends the steel
Around the courser's thundering heel,
That e'er shall dint a sable wound
On fair Glamorgan's velvet ground!

II.
From Chepstow's towers, ere dawn of morn,
Was heard afar the bugle-horn;
And forth, in banded pomp and pride,
Stout Clare and fiery Neville ride,
They swore, their banners broad should gleam,
In crimson light, on Rymny's stream;
They vowed, Caerphili's sod should feel
The Norman charger's spurning heel.

III.
And sooth they swore - the sun arose,
And Rymny's wave with crimson glows;
For Clare's red banner, floating wide,
Roll'd down the stream to Severn's tide!
And sooth they vow'd - the trampled green
Show'd where hot Neville's charge had been:
In every sable hoof-tramp stood
A Norman horseman's curdling blood!

IV.
Old Chepstow's brides may curse the toil,
That arm'd stout Clare for Cambrian broil;
Their orphans long the art may rue,
For Neville's war-horse forged the shoe.
No more the stamp of armed steed
Shall dint Glamorgan's velvet mead;
Nor trace be there, in early spring,
Save of the Fairies' emerald ring.

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5. 8. 6.

I see danger
On the corner sent by me
Shadows the ways
Straight away you ran from me
I heard you calling
Yes, I heard you calling
I heard you calling
Yes, I heard you calling
I hear silence
I hear silence in my heart [house]
From a distance
Turn your back and run [hide] from me
Heard you calling
Yes, I heard you calling
Heard you calling
Yes, I heard you calling
When it happens
You will be no friend of mine
Take the first chance
When I am no longer free
Heard you calling
Yes, I heard you calling
Heard you calling
Yes, I heard you calling
In the future
When you want me in your heart
I wont be there [help you]
If you call out in the dark
Heard you calling
Yes, I heard you calling
Heard you calling
Oh yes I heard you, heard you, heard you, heard you calling
Can you hear me deep inside
From these feelings I cant hide
Can you hear me deep inside
From these feelings I cant hide
Oh, can you hear me deep inside
From these feelings I cant hide
Can you hear me calling you (4x)

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The White Horse...

on that early dawn
they arrived. I will not tell you
exactly how many were they.
they brought the wild horse again
this time it is white and coy
they did not speak to me
my attention was focused on the
beautiful horse
i did not show that i liked it
i did not talk too
then they brought the horse inside
the house
and then the windows and doors
were closed
and then the white horse started to
dance
and i liked it more

it was then that i realized
what are they really
and why are they here bringing me
a beautiful white horse

will they take my antique chairs
made of rosewood?
will i bargain my house
for a horse?

just for a horse
and they whose names i do not really know
shall laugh
after they had finally taken the whole of what i have

just for a white horse whose talent is just
to dance?

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Princess And The Black Horse -I(Journey To Unknown)

It was a faded moonlit-night.
The wood near was very dark,
as it was too thick, dense so,
You won't see if anyone does lurk.
The princess was riding on her horse...
along the lone pass of the wood,
her father was usurped from throne,
then in captivity, she only did brood,
How to retrieve her father's honor,
and give him back his crown!
She needed the aid of neighbor king
and the help of his army around.
The night was getting dark and dark...
The howls of the wolves were heard.
The world of light, fun and frolic,
wasn't there, she was without guard.
Ah! the horse stopped as, he was afraid.
His harness bell rang breaking silence,
The princess asked -'Blackberry,
dear, why are you frightened hence? '
'N-e-i-g-h, n-e-i-g-h, 'he called princess,
The princess, patted on his back and
'Don't worry, you are the king's horse, '
said she and took out from girdle a wand.
'After midnight it'll work, ' told court sorceress.
She then touched the wand on horse's swan neck.
Wow! he turned into a handsome winged bird!
She rode on him and flew till night did break.

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The Glory of Man and Horse

Oh, the glory of the charge!
Man and horse to battle
Never an army too large
To stand in their way

Oh, the glory of the plains!
Man and horse to conquer
Battling wind and rains
To tame the far, far west

Oh, the glory of the sand!
Man and horse to test
Over the hot, dry land
To try their strength

Oh, the glory of the race!
Man and horse to run
Galloping a fearsome pace
To win that golden cup

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Looking for my Horse

Just the other day I lost my horse
I lost my horse, I lost it somewhere
Not here for sure or I would find it
My horse is hungry my horse must drink
The flies are horse flies you know
They zoom about my head as if to say
You are sitting on your saddle, you dummy
Your saddle under you, beneath that … a horse

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Grey Riders

The night was cold
And the wind was howling
I was awaken by the sound
Of hoof beats pounding.
Outside the window, on the ground
Our hound dog was growling
Grey riders flew across my lawn
I looked again and they all were gone.
That voice was calling
And it cut through the night
Come on boys, let her go.
Up on a hill
They rode in one long column
They were freezing with the chills
Of the new day dawning.
Their hair long and grey
They heard just one voice calling
Grey riders on the morning sky,
The sun made diamonds of their road-weary eyes.
That voice is calling
And it cut through the night
Come on boys, let her go.
The night was cold
And the wind was howling
I was awaken by the sound
Of hoof beats pounding.
Outside the window, on the ground
Our hound dog was growling
Grey riders flew across my lawn
I looked again and they all were gone.
That voice was calling
And it cut through the night
Come on boys, let her go.

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A Horse To Outrun

A horse is sent to outrun the rollers with wheels,
A pin and needle can be a horse, but they are animals.
Stones are thrown on the bleeding wounds,
Heaven shines its odours on them to bind.
The wheels spin, to collect a dust of ruined historical measures,
Wheels indeed spin around to outrun the steed,
To make it abandon, but the battle is never-ending.
Eat the green goose, for it is cherished for its taste,
After the race is won by the rollers with wheels.
If the horse triumphs then exaltation is not possible,
Wheels are to oppress the horse or steed
To make it bleed and to crush its very head and neck.

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Glory of Man and Horse

Oh, the glory of the charge!
Man and horse to battle
Never an army too large
To stand in their way

Oh, the glory of the plains!
Man and horse to conquer
Battling wind and rains
To tame the far, far west

Oh, the glory of the sand!
Man and horse to test
Over the hot, dry land
To try their strength

Oh, the glory of the race!
Man and horse to run
Galloping a fearsome pace
To win that golden cup

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What is a Horse?

What is a horse?
A horse has eyes as dainty as a mink.
The grace is interrupted merely by a blink.
A horse is beauty.

What is a horse?
A horse is a tree in a storm that never goes down.
A horse is a weathered rock that stays around.
A horse is ancient.

What is a horse?
A horse waltzes like breeze over rivers.
She curvets and leaps like rain shivers.
A horse is a marionette.

What is a horse?
A horse is determination, that never stops flowing.
A horse is fondness, that never stops growing.
A horse is poetic power.

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Barren Waste

Mount, ride my Prince, son of our Queen,
Lead us to Gold.
Pale is the horse, the dim white horse,
That I now do hold.

Our Queen sent us here, to Cebu,
Most cruel land.
Here we stand, awaiting her command,
Take my hand.

Now you will be lost, silent and pale,
Son of the Queen.
Lead us to Cebu, Land of Gold,
Never to be seen.

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It's A Wrap

You came home late last night you smelled just like the scent of her
Not only that but you had lipstick all over your shirt
I'm thinking to myself this man has no respect for me
I knew it all along cause you were talking in your sleep
It's a wrap
Why you go and do me like that
I thought the love was good
But I misunderstood baby
It's a wrap
And I am not surprised
How you could sit right here
And look me in my eyes and tell a lie
Heard you calling her name
In your sleep at night
What are we gonna do
Cause I'm through with you
I heard you calling her name
In your sleep at night
What are we gonna do
Cause I'm through with you
I heard you
What you were saying in your sleep it violated me
No doubt about it but there's nothing left for you and me
Because you're busted and I might as well go on
Boy it's gonna take a long time to make this a happy home
You know it's a wrap
Why you go and do me like that
I thought the love was good
But I misunderstood baby
It's a wrap
And I am not surprised
How you could sit right here
And look me in my eyes
And tell a lie
I heard you
Heard you calling her name
In your sleep at night
What are we gonna do
Cause I'm through with you
I heard you calling her name
In your sleep at night
What are we gonna do
Cause I'm through with you
All you had to say was I don't wanna be with you
Why don't you tell the truth cause I already got the proof
It will never be the same you know it's a crying shame
Cause now I am disgusted cause you are so cold busted
I heard you calling her name
In your sleep at night
What are we gonna do
Cause I'm through with you
I heard you calling her name
In your sleep at night
What are we gonna do
Cause I'm through with you
Heard you calling her name
In your sleep at night
What are we gonna do
Cause I'm through with you
I heard you
Why you go and do me like that
I thought the love was good
But I misunderstood baby
It's a wrap
And I am not surprised
How you could sit right here
And look me in my eyes and tell a lie

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Just a Horse

A friend died recently
Our hearts filled with remorse
Some may not understand
They’ll say, “He was just a horse”

Broke his heart to sell Apache
But when Dad died he was forced
Three hundred and fifty dollars
“If you want just a horse”

For my daughter, a new chapter
In her growing up course
Her heart and eyes burned bright
Yet, “he was just a horse”

In the arena, through the poles
Riding natures own source
Mounted on her lithe steed
“Yes, he was just a horse”

A queen in the parade
With a crown and sash, of course
Riding regally through the cheering crowd
Noble and proud, “but just a horse”

In the corral or just around the pasture
Listening to her gentle discourse
Love applied with a curry brush
For an animal “who was just a horse”

God created all the animals
Before he created man in due course
Gave humanity all his best
God’s own plan, but “never just a horse”

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The Night Hunt

In the morning, in the dark,
When the stars begin to blunt,
By the wall of Barna Park
Dogs I heard and saw them hunt
All the parish dogs were there,
All the dogs for miles around,
Teeming up behind a hare,
In the dark, without a sound.

How I heard I scarce can tell--
'Twas a patter in the grass--
And I did not see them well
Come across the dark and pass;
Yet I saw them and I knew
Spearman's dog and Spellman's dog
And, beside my own dog too,
Leamy's from the Island Bog.

In the morning when the sun
Burnished all the green to gorse,
I went out to take a run
Round the bog upon my horse;
And my dog that had been sleeping
In the heat beside the door
Left his yawning and went leaping
On a hundred yards before.

Through the village street we passed--
Not a dog there raised a snout--
Through the street and out at last
On the white bog road and out
Over Barna Park full pace,
Over to the Silver Stream,
Horse and dog in happy race,
Rider between thought and dream.

By the stream, at Leamy's house,
Lay a dog -- my pace I curbed --
But our coming did not rouse
Him from drowsing undisturbed;
And my dog, as unaware
Of the other, dropped beside
And went running by me there
With my horse's slackened stride.

Yet by something, by a twitch
Of the sleeper's eye, a look
From the runner, something which
Little chords of feeling shook,
I was conscious that a thought
Shuddered through the silent deep
Of a secret -- I had caught
Something I had known in sleep.

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Galloping Horse

Watching, in sarrow as you gallop away
in your mighty white horse to the endless shimmering sea
I can only watch so long, before breaking down to face away-
mourning the day i went wrong.
In hoping and knowing that youll return
i leave without saying a word
But i turn too soon and forever lost-you become-
in human and in thought
Now i carry such a burden as to have you-
gone from my life, my soul, and my mind
but still in hoping, and knowing that you will not return,
i wait by the sea-searching for a galloping horse
And in dreams i imagine your smile once more,
by the galloping horse
And in visions i see you, returning-
by the galloping horse.

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The dark knight

He gallops into town
With nothing but his dagger and horse
He sits upon that horse
With a back as straight as a stone wall
Faster than a man's eye could detect
In one swift movement
He unmounts his mighty steed
Grabs out his dagger
With such graceful movement
He began to maul
With such stealth that's unlike any human beings'
He demolishes the small village
After looking around
Making sure everything was still and dead
He mounts his fearless steed
And canters away from the demolished village
With a frightening yet gorgeous smile upon his pale face
He begins to whistle an old tune
As if nothing had ever happened

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Rio Grande

Now this was what Macpherson told
While waiting in the stand;
A reckless rider, over-bold,
The only man with hands to hold
The rushing Rio Grande.
He said, “This day I bid good-bye
To bit and bridle rein,
To ditches deep and fences high,
For I have dreamed a dream, and I
Shall never ride again.

“I dreamt last night I rode this race
That I today must ride,
And cantering down to take my place
I saw full many an old friend’s face
Come stealing to my side.

“Dead men on horses long since dead,
They clustered on the track;
The champions of the days long fled,
They moved around with noiseless tread—
Bay, chestnut, brown, and black.

“And one man on a big grey steed
Rode up and waved his hand;
Said he, ‘We help a friend in need,
And we have come to give a lead
To you and Rio Grande.

“‘For you must give the field the slip;
So never draw the rein,
But keep him moving with the whip,
And, if he falter, set your lip
And rouse him up again.

“‘But when you reach the big stone wall
Put down your bridle-hand
And let him sail-he cannot fall,
But don’t you interfere at all;
You trust old Rio Grande.’

“We started, and in front we showed,
The big horse running free:
Right fearlessly and game he strode,
And by my side those dead men rode
Whom no one else could see.

“As silently as flies a bird,
They rode on either hand;
At every fence I plainly heard
The phantom leader give the word,
‘Make room for Rio Grande!’

“I spurred him on to get the lead,
n I chanced full many a fall;
But swifter still each phantom steed
Kept with me, and at racing speed
We reached the big stone wall.

“And there the phantoms on each side
Drew in and blocked his leap;
‘Make room! make room!’ I loudly cried,
But right in front they seemed to ride—
I cursed them in my sleep.

“He never flinched, he faced it game,
He struck it with his chest,
And every stone burst out in flame—
And Rio Grande and I became
Phantoms among the rest.

“And then I woke, and for a space
All nerveless did I seem;
For I have ridden many a race
But never one at such a pace
As in that fearful dream.

“And I am sure as man can be
That out upon the track
Those phantoms that men cannot see
Are waiting now to ride with me;
And I shall not come back.

“For I must ride the dead men’s race,
And follow their command;
’Twere worse than death, the foul disgrace
If I should fear to take my place
Today on Rio Grande.”

He mounted, and a jest he threw,
With never sign of gloom;
But all who heard the story knew
That Jack Macpherson, brave and true,
Was going to his doom.

They started, and the big black steed
Came flashing past the stand;
All single-handed in the lead
He strode along at racing speed,
The mighty Rio Grande.

But on his ribs the whalebone stung—
A madness, sure, it seemed—
And soon it rose on every tongue
That Jack Macpherson rode among
The creatures he had dreamed.

He looked to left, and looked to right,
As though men rode beside;
And Rio Grande, with foam-flecks white,
Raced at his jumps in headlong flight
And cleared them in his stride.

But when they reached the big stone wall,
Down went the bridle-hand,
And loud we heard Macpherson call
“Make room, or half the field will fall!
Make room for Rio Grande!”

“He’s down! he’s down!” And horse and man
Lay quiet side by side!
No need the pallid face to scan,
We knew with Rio Grande he ran
The race the dead men ride.

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Wind Horse

Da naho… It is said,
Wind Horse, gentle Wind horse, you were the last of your kind.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you were running wild and free.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, with this freedom you did nothing but give;
When one called for help you carried them to safety,
No enemy did you have.

Da naho… It is said,
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you gave your life one day
To a boy with no leg.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you gave him your endless love.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you now run in the Great Hunting Grounds;
Giving joy to those there, as you did here.

Da naho… It is said,
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, your life was not the last gift
You gave the People.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you prayed for us, you wished a wish for us.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, we remember you through your brother Horse.

Wi: yo: h … It is good.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, we see you still.

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