GALLOPING.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume VII, Issue 3, 1 December 1902, Page 228

GALLOPING.

Illustrated by Trevor Lloyd,

When dawn mists float in a dreamy haze, We'll ride where the ripples sigh, Forgetting the world and its worldly ways, You, Maid of the Dawn, and I. The horses plunge as we swing them round — Their hot breath blows like steam — And now the hammering hard hoofs pound, And the tossing snaffles gleam.

The stride of your chestnut on the sand Is meant for the gods to feel — I can see the blue of his forehead band As he plays with the glittering steel — And in the glorious morning breeze "We'll ride at a pace that thrills, With the red sun lifting across the seas, And the night-dews on the hills.

The deadened beat of the quick hoof-stroke, The tug of a reefing rein, An ear quick-turned for a word low-spoke, A snatch of an old refrain. The chestnut shies at the creaming sea, You laugh as you meet his swing ; But his hoofs are singing a song to me That the years will always sing.

We're galloping when the world asleep Is rolling its weary round, And oil ! to ride when the pulses leap, And the thundering hoof-beats pound The sand flakes fly as we tear along, With the horses racing low, And a reckless, racketting, rolling song From the eager hoofs below.

Bat that was ever so long ago, And only old dreams remind How you shouted gaily to me to know " How far is the world behind ? " And I laughed back in the roaring draught With joy that a lover feels ; But I knew ere ever I turned and laughed, The world was close on our heels.

The deadened beat of the hard hoof-stroke, The lilt of an old refrain, The hot breath blowing away like smoke — I am dreaming it all again. I see the red sun burning the seas, And the scattering sand-flakes fly, And we are riding to meet the breeze, You, Maid of the Dawn, and I.

Quilp N,