Who rideth through the driving rain At such a headlong speed? Naked and pale he rides amain Upon a naked steed. Nor hollow nor height his going bars, His wet steed shines like silk, His head is golden to the stars And his limbs are white as milk. But, lo, he dwindles as the light That lifts from a black mere, And, as the fair youth wanes from sight, The steed grows mightier. What wizard by yon holy tree Mutters unto the sky Where Macha's flame-tongued horses flee On hoofs of thunder by? Ah, 'tis not holy so to ban The youth of kingly seed: Ah! woe, the wasting of a man Who changes to a steed! Nightly upon the Plain of Kings, When Macha's day is nigh, He gallops; and the dark wind brings His lonely human cry. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE WHEEL OF BEING II by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE IMPOSSIBLE INDISPENSIBILITY OF THE ARS POETICA by HAYDEN CARRUTH AFTERGLOW by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SONNET TO THOSE WHO SEE BUT DARKLY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOMESDAY BOOK: THE GOVERNOR by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: IMANUEL EHRENHARDT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |