Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE KING'S HORSES, by HERBERT H. LONGFELLOW



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE KING'S HORSES, by                    
First Line: I have been thinking about the sensibilities of a word
Last Line: I must wait.
Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary


I have been thinking about the sensibilities of a word.
Of a word that has been chosen as a messenger between friends
In an anticipated ministry of joy.
I have been thinking of it as a tiny, alert and eager word,
Dancing in expectancy,
Shining, gleeful and importunate.
I have imagined it upon its journey.
Its self-satisfactions, its images of conquest, its prides, its haste.

Everything is auspicious.
The journey is brief.
A single instant suffices.
It is without danger.
The word and its sender are in wholesome accord;
The understanding between them cannot be bettered;
Each mirrors the perfection of the other.
I am rejoiced.

I have become anxious.
I have witnessed defeat.
I am nettled.
The word has beheld its importance.
It returns without brightness.
It has become dust.
It is tossed and bitten by the wind.
It is frayed; it has become sound.
Its ministry is forgotten.
It has become a jest.
Its lineage is disgraced.
It is humiliated.
I am amazed.

What can I do to restore or reassure even a little word?
I can do nothing.
I must wait.





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