The Winged Horse
It’s ten years ago to-day you turned me out o’ doorsTo cut my feet on flinty lands and stumble down the shores,And I thought about the all-in-all, oh more than I can tell!But I caught a horse to ride upon and I rode him very well,He had flame behind the eyes of him and wings upon his side.And I ride, and I ride!
I rode him out of Wantage and I rode him up the hill,And there I saw the Beacon in the morning standing still,Inkpen and Hackpen and southward and awayHigh through the middle airs in the strengthening of the day,And there I saw the channel-glint and England in her pride.And I ride, and I ride!
And once a-top of Lambourne down toward the hill of ClereI saw the Host of Heaven in rank and Michael with his spear,And Turpin out of Gascony and Charlemagne the Lord,And Roland of the marches with his hand upon his swordFor the time he should have need of it, and forty more beside.And I ride, and I ride!
For you that took the all-in-all the things you left were three.A loud voice for singing and keen eyes to see,And a spouting well of joy within that never yet was dried!And I ride.
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- wantage n.
- That which is wanting; deficiency.
- turpin n.
- A land tortoise.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Winged Horse is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #60663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hilaire Belloc, The Winged Horse, in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/the-winged-horse.html, id L21693.
Form and metre
The Winged Horse is 22 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABBCC doorsA · shoresA · tellB · wellB · sideC · rideC
- 2 AABBCC hillA · stillA · awayB · dayB · prideC · rideC
- 3 --AABB clere · spear · lordA · swordA · besideB · rideB
- 4 AABB threeA · seeA · driedB · rideB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It’s ten years ago to-day you turned me out o’ doors | 14 | ···˘/····˘···· |
| To cut my feet on flinty lands and stumble down the shores, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| And I thought about the all-in-all, oh more than I can tell! | 15 | ··············· |
| But I caught a horse to ride upon and I rode him very well, | 16 | ·············/˘· |
| He had flame behind the eyes of him and wings upon his side. | 15 | ··············· |
| And I ride, and I ride! | 6 | ······ |
| I rode him out of Wantage and I rode him up the hill, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| And there I saw the Beacon in the morning standing still, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Inkpen and Hackpen and southward and away | 11 | ······/˘·˘/ |
| High through the middle airs in the strengthening of the day, | 14 | ···/˘···/˘˘··· |
| And there I saw the channel-glint and England in her pride. | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| And I ride, and I ride! | 6 | ······ |
| And once a-top of Lambourne down toward the hill of Clere | 14 | ·············· |
| I saw the Host of Heaven in rank and Michael with his spear, | 14 | ·····/···/˘··· |
| And Turpin out of Gascony and Charlemagne the Lord, | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| And Roland of the marches with his hand upon his sword | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| For the time he should have need of it, and forty more beside. | 15 | ··········/˘·˘/ |
| And I ride, and I ride! | 6 | ······ |
| For you that took the all-in-all the things you left were three. | 14 | ·············· |
| A loud voice for singing and keen eyes to see, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And a spouting well of joy within that never yet was dried! | 14 | ··/˘······/··· |
| And I ride. | 3 | ··· |
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.