The Poetry of Horses

Product Information

The Highwayman’is a very popular narrative poem that was first published in August of 1906. The poem tells the story of a highwayman, romantic in profession and belief, who falls in love with a landlord’s daughter named Bess. Their story is not a happy one in life, but in death, they are reunited. Throughout the poem, Noyes uses rhyme, rhythm and figurative language to create a compelling story. When the poet passed them, “not one snorted or jerked its head”. They were like “grey silent fragments” of nature’s calmest song. The poet was amazed by their stillness and the horses appeared to the poet belonging to another world that is “grey” and “silent”. In the following lines, the poet first introduces sound in this poem and it was of the “curlew’s”. From the first sound, the poem takes an interesting turn in the next section. Brogan, Jacqueline Vaught, and Cordelia Chavez Candelaria, editors, Women Poets of the Americas: Toward a Pan-American Gathering, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1999.

Library Journal, October 15, 1994, p. 72; November 15, 1994, p. 70; June 1, 1997, p. 100; June 15, 2002, p. 70. The Horses’ by Ted Hughes talks about the horses and their graceful silence. The animals which are known for their pace, are paradoxically cherished in the poem for their heart-warming stillness. However, in his early years, the poet was fascinated with such epigrammatic beauty of nature and its creatures. He wrote several poems on other animals too either depicting their beauty or their resemblance with mankind. Buelens, Gert, and Ernst Rudin, editors, Deferring a Dream: Literary Sub-Versions of the American Columbiad, Birkhauser (Boston, MA), 1994.

In recent times she has proved prolific, continuing to write, tour and record, curating the Meltdown festival, collaborating with Philip Glass and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and pursuing her great love for photography. She has even, it seems, made some sort of peace with religion – invited last year by Pope Francis to play the Vatican Christmas concert in Rome. Asked whether she had reconsidered the position she set out so strikingly in that opening lyric from Horses, she was equally uncompromising. “Anyone who would confine me to an old line,” she said, “is a fool.” Potted profile

You try to do the best with what you’ve got and ignore everything else. That’s why horses get blinders in hose racing: You look at the horse next to you, and you lose a step.” – Jimmy Lovine Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity? Here where grace is laced with muscle and strength by gentleness confined.” – ​ Ronald DuncanThe author of this poem is unknown, but it’s one of the most popular horse poems, about the joy of owning a young horse but also the pain of losing the horse when it’s still a small foal. It’s likely to bring a tear to the eye of any horse-fan.

His poems are a regular feature on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day where he recites to the crowd from the famed Best Mate and Arkle statues. He has been featured on the BBC, Channel 4 and Dubai Sports Channel and has been commissioned by numerous international newspapers. The White Horse’by D.H. Lawrence s a very short four-line poem that depicts a youth and a white horse. In the four lines, the young man walk-up to the horse and puts “its / halter on”. The horse does nothing but stares at the boy “in silence”. The entire poem has a quiet contemplation about it that encourages a reader to dig deeper into each line and the complexities of animal/human relationships. The two, Lawrence concludes, are so silent they are “in another world”

9 of the Best Poems About Horses

Perhaps surprisingly Birtles has found his poetic leanings can often be a positive factor where the day job is concerned: “When pitching for the distribution business of one of our clients, the Singapore Turf Club, I was asked ‘How do we know you really like racing?’ I believe when I rather ruefully revealed my alter ego ‘The Racing Poet’, they needed no further convincing!” However, in “red levelling rays” the poet uses a metaphor. It refers to the egalitarian nature of the sun that casts its heat on all alike. In the last four lines, the poet presents his attachment with the scene and he says, “I still meet my memory in so lonely a place.” Did you connect to any of these quotes? Which one of these quotes was your favorite? Do you have any fun horse stories that you want to share? Leave a comment below for us and other horse lovers to read!

There is something about the relationship between man and horse that has gone on for so long and although we don’t rely on them like we used to, they are still such a part of us.” It is this love for the horses themselves that enables Birtles’ poems to transcend sporting barriers and strike a chord with any lover of animals. The Horses’ by Ted Hughes depicts the sunrise and breaks all the natural silence. According to the poet’s imagination, the sun like the lava erupted from the volcanic mountain of clouds. After the sunrise grey, the color of sadness, hopelessness, and passivity, fades away and appears the blue of life, longevity, and spontaneity. The poet could clearly see the sky and humorously the “hanging” planet in the sky like fruits. When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.” – William ShakespeareBryan, Sharon, ed., Where We Stand: Women Poets on Literary Tradition, Norton (New York, NY), 1993.