Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE STAMPEDE, by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE STAMPEDE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The lightning tossed its tangled boughs
Last Line: Lest they should rise again.
Subject(s): Cattle; Lightning; Storms; Lightning Rods


THE lightning tossed its tangled boughs
And great winds ran about:
At midnight all the cattle rose
And took to sudden rout.

And, whirled in seething floods of rain,
We followed in their wake,
While ebbed and surged the driving storm
Like waves which lift and break.

Mad was the night and mad the flight;
We prayed beneath our breath—
For, 'mid that sea of tossing horns,
Beneath those hoofs, lay death.

Then in the same mysterious way
They paused as they began ...
And down our backs the trickling drops
In ceaseless rivulets ran,

As round and round the herd we rode
For hour on hour of rain,
Singing them songs of lusty cheer
Lest they should rise again.





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