Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VERMONT MEMORY TRACKS - SUMMER, by LEONARD TWYNHAM


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

VERMONT MEMORY TRACKS - SUMMER, by                    
First Line: I pause and ponder as I pass the fields
Last Line: Will soon be veiled beneath the weeping grass.
Alternate Author Name(s): Twinem, Leo Leonard
Subject(s): Summer; Vermont


I pause and ponder as I pass the fields
Beside the broad and busy valley roads.
Tall weeds stretch vainly in the candid sun
To hide the hard old cinder tracks from sight,
Dim circular and oval paths reveal
A tale of horses proud with Morgan strain.

In this near meadow can I faintly see
The lingering outline of a training ring,
Recalling days when horses were the friends
And special pride of owners and of grooms.
Mad geldings here tossed riders from their spines;
Wild colts were broken to the bit and cart,
Saddles and harness strapped upon their backs;
Sleek handsome mounts were primed for chase and hunt;
Pacers and trotters heated for the race.
Jockeys spun sulkeys round this dizzy loop,
With horses polished by the fanciest grooms;
And buggies, gigs, and phaetons here were drawn
By favorite mares reined to a lady's hand.
Here stallions pranced and snorted into health,
Ben Franklin, Dan Lambert and such noble sires.
Fewer and fewer the heroes of the turf!
Fewer the carriage horses on the hills!
Deserted are the lowland practice curves,
Half-hidden by kind nature's cloak of green,
Yet not abandoned by fond memory, ...
For still old Pegasus spins wildly round,
His tail tipped high, his nostrils sniffing air,
His hoofs so fleet they never touch the ground.

Time's whirligig brings many griefs to pass.
The little cycles we have trod, alas!
Will soon be veiled beneath the weeping grass.





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