Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TOWSER, by WALT MASON



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TOWSER, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I drove a horse for a long, long time
Last Line: Down 'neath the buttercups—and it's true of men, just as well as pups.
Subject(s): Animals; Death - Animals; Dogs; Friendship; Pets


I DROVE a horse for a long, long time; through the summer dust and the winter
rime I jogged along in my one-hoss shay, and never dreamed that a better way of

locomotion I e'er would find, and Towser trotted along behind. A happy dog was
old Towser then; he got acquainted with dogs and men, and found fine bones on
the right of way, the while he followed my one-hoss shay. But Dobbin, the horse,

grew out of date, and I bought a car that can hit a gait of forty miles in a
fleeting hour, a thing that throbs with resistless power. Old Towser followed
the car one day, as I scorched the road on my townward way; he kept in sight for

three para-sangs, and then he muttered some bow-wow dangs, and sneaked back home

with a broken heart, and died the death 'neath a one-hoss cart. Alas, old dog,
'twas a bitter end, for one that long was a faithful friend, but the world moves

on, and that dog must fade that is too slow for the great parade; must lay him
down 'neath the buttercups—and it's true of men, just as well as pups.





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