Barry Cornwall

Here you will find the Poem The Blood Horse of poet Barry Cornwall

The Blood Horse

GAMARRA is a dainty steed, 
Strong, black, and of a noble breed, 
Full of fire, and full of bone, 
With all his line of fathers known; 
Fine his nose, his nostrils thin, 
But blown abroad by the pride within! 
His mane is like a river flowing, 
And his eyes like embers glowing 
In the darkness of the night, 
And his pace as swift as light.
 
Look,?how ?round his straining throat 
Grace and shifting beauty float! 
Sinewy strength is on his reins, 
And the red blood gallops through his veins; 
Richer, redder, never ran 
Through the boasting heart of man. 
He can trace his lineage higher 
Than the Bourbon dare aspire,? 
Douglas, Guzman, or the Guelph, 
Or O?Brien?s blood itself!
 
He, who hath no peer, was born 
Here, upon a red March morn: 
But his famous fathers dead 
Were Arabs all, and Arab bred, 
And the last of that great line
Trod like one of a race divine! 
And yet,?he was but friend to one 
Who fed him at the set of sun, 
By some lone fountain ?fringed with green: 
With him, a roving Bedouin,
He liv?d,?(none else would he obey 
Through all the hot Arabian day,)? 
And died untam?d upon the sands 
Where Balkh amidst the desert stands!