Death of an Old Carriage Horse
Death of an Old Carriage Horse
Original Text
George Moses Horton, Naked Genius, compiled by Will. H. S. Banks (Raleigh: William B. Smith, 1865): 57-58.
1I was a harness horse,
2 Constrained to travel weak or strong,
3With orders from oppressing force,
4 Push along, push along.
5I had no space of rest,
6 And took at forks the roughest prong,
7Still by the cruel driver pressed,
8 Push along, push along.
9Vain strove the idle bird,
10 To charm me with her artless song,
11But pleasure lingered from the word,
12 Push along, push along.
13The order of the day
14 Was push, the peal of every tongue,
15The only word was all the way,
16 Push along, push along.
17Thus to my journey's end,
18 Had I to travel right or wrong,
19'Till death my sweet and favored friend,
20 Bade me from life to push along.
Publication Start Year
1865
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme