The Horse and His Rider
Brac'd in the sinewy vigour of thy breed,In pride of gen'rous strength, thou stately steed,Thy broad chest to the battle's front is given,Thy mane fair floating to the winds of heaven.Thy champing hoofs the flinty pebbles break;Graceful the rising of thine arched neck.White churning foam thy chaffed bits enlock;And from thy nostril bursts the curling smoke.Thy kindling eye-balls brave the glaring south;And dreadful is the thunder of thy mouth:Whilst low to earth thy curving haunches bend,Thy sweepy tail involv'd in clouds of sand;Erect in air thou rear'st thy front of pride,And ring'st the plated harness on thy side.But, lo! what creature, goodly to the sight,Dares thus bestride thee, chaffing in thy might?Of portly stature, and determin'd mien?Whose dark eye dwells beneath a brow serene?And forward looks unmov'd to fields of death:And smiling, gently strokes thee in thy wrath?Whose brandish'd falch'on dreaded gleams afar?It is a British soldier, arm'd for war!
Words in this poem
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- churning n.
- The act of one who churns.
- enlock v. t.
- To lock; to inclose.
- glaring a.
- Clear; notorious; open and bold; barefaced; as, a glaring crime.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- sweepy a.
- Moving with a sweeping motion.
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- bestride v. t.
- To stand or sit with anything between the legs, or with the legs astride; to stand over That horse that thou so often hast bestrid. [AS. bestridan; pref. be- + stridan to stride.]
- chaffing n.
- The use of light, frivolous language by way of fun or ridicule; raillery; banter.
- portly a.
- Having a dignified port or mien; of a noble appearance; imposing. [From Port demeanor.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Horse and His Rider is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, &c. (1790) Wherein It Is Attempted To Describe Certain Views Of Nature And Of Rustic Manners; And Also, To Point Out, In Some Instances, The Different Influence Which The Same Circumstances Produce On Different Characters, Project Gutenberg ebook #14617; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Joanna Baillie, The Horse and His Rider, in Poems (1790) (1790), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/baillie-poems/the-horse-and-his-rider.html, id L09873.
Form and metre
The Horse and His Rider is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA------BB--CCDDEE---- breedA · steedA · given · heaven · break · neck · enlock · smoke · southB · mouthB · bend · sand · prideC · sideC · sightD · mightD · mienE · sereneE · death · wrath · afar · war
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Brac'd in the sinewy vigour of thy breed, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In pride of gen'rous strength, thou stately steed, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thy broad chest to the battle's front is given, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Thy mane fair floating to the winds of heaven. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Thy champing hoofs the flinty pebbles break; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Graceful the rising of thine arched neck. | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘· |
| White churning foam thy chaffed bits enlock; | 10 | ·/˘···˘·˘/ |
| And from thy nostril bursts the curling smoke. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thy kindling eye-balls brave the glaring south; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And dreadful is the thunder of thy mouth: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Whilst low to earth thy curving haunches bend, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy sweepy tail involv'd in clouds of sand; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Erect in air thou rear'st thy front of pride, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| And ring'st the plated harness on thy side. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But, lo! what creature, goodly to the sight, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Dares thus bestride thee, chaffing in thy might? | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Of portly stature, and determin'd mien? | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whose dark eye dwells beneath a brow serene? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And forward looks unmov'd to fields of death: | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| And smiling, gently strokes thee in thy wrath? | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Whose brandish'd falch'on dreaded gleams afar? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| It is a British soldier, arm'd for war! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.