Tuesday, April 28, 2009

THE ARAB,S FAREWELL TO HIS HORSE by Caroline Norton

Dedicated to Barbaro, a game race horse eventually put down after his brave fight following his breaking down at the Kentucky Derby, 2006, commemorated with the unveiling of a life-size statue at Churchill Downs, Sunday, April 26, 2009.

My beautiful! My beautiful! That standest meekly by,
With thy proudly arch’d and glossy neck, and dark and fiery eye,
Fret not to roam the desert now, with all thy winged speed;
I may not mount on thee again, - thou’rt sold, my Arab steed!
Fret not with that impatient hoof,-sniff not the breezy wind,-
The farther that thou flies now, so far am I behind:
The stranger hath thy bridle-rein,-thy master hath his gold,-
Fleet-limb’d and beautiful, farewell: thou’rt sold, my steed, thou’rt sold.

Farewell! Those free, untired limbs full many a mile must roam,
To reach the chill and wintry sky which clouds the stranger’s home’
Some other hand, less fond must now thy corn and bread prepare,
The silky man I braided once, must be another’s care!
The morning sun shall dawn again, but never more with thee
Shall I gallop through the desert paths, where we were wont to be;
Evening shall darken on the earth, and o’er the sandy plain
‘Some other steed, with slower step, shall bear me home again.

Yes, thou must go! The wild, free breeze, the brilliant sun and sky,
Thy master’s home,- from all of these my exiled one must fly’
Thy proud dark eye will grow less proud, thy step becomes less fleet,
And vainly shalt thou arch thy neck, thy master’s hand to meet.
Only in sleep shall I behold that dark eye, glancing bright;-
Only in sleep shall hear again that step so firm and light;
And when I raise my dreaming arm to check or cheer they speed,
Then must I, starting, wake to feel-thou’rt sold, my Arab steed!

Ah! Rudely, then, unseen by me, some cruel hand my chide,
Till foam-wreaths lie, like crested waves, along thy panting side:
And the rich blood that’s in thee swell, in thy indignant pain
Till careless eyes, which rest on thee, may count each started vein.
Will they ill use thee? If I thought - but no, it cannot be,-
Thou are so swift, yet easy curb’d, so gentle, yet so free;
And yet, if haply, when thou’rt gone, my lonely heart should yearn,-
Can the hand which cast thee from it now command thee to return?

Return! Alas! My Arab steed! What shall thy master do,
When thou, who wast his all of joy, hast vanish’d from his view?
When the dim distance cheats mine eye, and through the gathering tears,
Thy bright form, for a moment, like the false mirage appears;
Slow and unmounted shall I roam, with weary step alone,
Where, with fleet step and joyous bond, thou oft hast borne me on;
And sitting down by that green well, I’ll pause and sadly think
"It was here he bow’d his glossy neck when last I saw him drink!"

When last I saw thee drink! - Away! The fever’d dream is o’er,-
I could not live a day, and know that we should meet no more!
They tempted me, my beautiful! For hunger’s power is strong,-
They tempted me, my beautiful! But I have loved too long.
Who said that I had given thee up? Who said that thou wast sold?
‘Tis false,-‘tis false! My Arab steed! I fling them back their gold!
Thus, thus, I leap upon thy back, and scour the distant plains;
Away! Who overtakes us now shall claim thee for his pains!

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