A Horse Book (in Short Poetry Collection 111 )

MP3 Audio CD. A Horse Book (in Short Poetry Collection 111 )

AT PLAY.


Three little foals you see at play.
They romp and sport all through the day,
But sometimes they are most sedate
And try to ape their mothers' gait.

They wheel and race and leap and prance,
And sometimes they are said to dance:
But always they will stand and stare
At anyone who passes there.




SCHOOLING.


The horse, like us, must go to school
To learn by precept and by rule.
Like us, he does not love the work,
Like us, he's not allowed to shirk.

This little instrument you see
Strapped on his back, shaped like a V,
Is a "Dumb Jockey" meant to train
The horse to bear the bit and rein.



CLEVERNESS.


Billy, the circus pony, can
Distinguish letters like a man:
He'll hold up for you in the ring
His D for Dunce and K for King.

With P for Pony he will show
That he his family name doth know;
And he will find the C for clown
And at his feet will put it down.




WILLINGNESS.


Although this horse is doing all he can to drag his heavy load up the
hill, the lazy boy who is walking beside him, with one hand in his
pocket, beats him cruelly with the stick which he carries. The boy is
too silly or too careless to see how willingly the horse is working.


WILFULNESS.


A horse's great red-letter days
Are days of hunting, when his ways
Are often very wilful. Here
See this John Gilpin in great fear.

He came out just to see the Meet,
But the horse thought he would compete
With horses, hounds and fox for place,
And led the man this madcap race.