Pegasus

He could not be captured,

He could not be bought,

His running was rhythm,

His standing was thought;

With one eye on sorrow

And one eye on mirth,

He galloped in heaven

And gambolled on earth

And only the poet

With wings to his brain

Can mount him and ride him

Without any rein,

The stallion of heaven,

The steed of the skies,

The horse of the singer

Who sings as he flies.

"The Great Winged One"

Soaring through the heavens,

Dancing across the stars,

Your beauty is astounding,

Majestic more than Mars.

Bestill the breath of watchers.

Seize their gaze, behold.

Your grandeur so immense,

Of words cannot be told.

Your father is Poseidon,

The god of the sea.

Your mother was a beauty,

Before scorned by jealousy.

There are many that desire

To capture your essence,

But all, indeed, fall short

Of your magnificence.

Although, a constellation,

Your spirit, it shan't contain,

For you will soar forever

In a place of no domain.

Oh, great winged one,

With thy name of Pegasus,

Shine within the hearts

Of each and all of us!

PEGASUS IN POUND

Once into a quiet village,

Without haste and without heed,

In the golden prime of morning,

Strayed the poet's winged steed.

It was Autumn, and incessant

Piped the quails from shocks and sheaves,

And, like living coals, the apples

Burned among the withering leaves.

Loud the clamorous bell was ringing

From its belfry gaunt and grim;

'T was the daily call to labor,

Not a triumph meant for him.

Not the less he saw the landscape,

In its gleaming vapor veiled;

Not the less he breathed the odors

That the dying leaves exhaled.

Thus, upon the village common,

By the school-boys he was found;

And the wise men, in their wisdom,

Put him straightway into pound.

Then the sombre village crier,

Ringing loud his brazen bell,

Wandered down the street proclaiming

There was an estray to sell.

And the curious country people,

Rich and poor, and young and old,

Came in haste to see this wondrous

Winged steed, with mane of gold.

Thus the day passed, and the evening

Fell, with vapors cold and dim;

But it brought no food nor shelter,

Brought no straw nor stall, for him.

Patiently, and still expectant,

Looked he through the wooden bars,

Saw the moon rise o'er the landscape,

Saw the tranquil, patient stars;

Till at length the bell at midnight

Sounded from its dark abode,

And, from out a neighboring farm-yard

Loud the cock Alectryon crowed.

Then, with nostrils wide distended,

Breaking from his iron chain,

And unfolding far his pinions,

To those stars he soared again.

On the morrow, when the village

Woke to all its toil and care,

Lo! the strange steed had departed,

And they knew not when nor where.

But they found, upon the greensward

Where his straggling hoofs had trod,

Pure and bright, a fountain flowing

From the hoof-marks in the sod.

From that hour, the fount unfailing

Gladdens the whole region round,

Strengthening all who drink its waters,

While it soothes them with its sound.