Miles Keogh's Horse
On the bluff of the Little Big-Horn,At the close of a woeful day,Custer and his Three HundredIn death and silence lay.
Three Hundred to Three Thousand!They had bravely fought and bled;For such is the will of CongressWhen the White man meets the Red.
The White men are ten millions,The thriftiest under the sun;The Reds are fifty thousand,And warriors every one.
So Custer and all his fighting-menLay under the evening skies,Staring up at the tranquil heavenWith wide, accusing eyes.
And of all that stood at noondayIn that fiery scorpion ring,Miles Keogh's horse at eveningWas the only living thing.
Alone from that field of slaughter,Where lay the three hundred slain,The horse Comanche wandered,With Keogh's blood on his mane.
And Sturgis issued this order,Which future times shall read,While the love and honour of comradesAre the soul of the soldiers creed.
He said--Let the horse ComancheHenceforth till he shall die,Be kindly cherished and cared forBy the Seventh Cavalry.
He shall do no labour; he never shall knowThe touch of spur or rein;Nor shall his back be ever crossedBy living rider again.
And at regimental formationOf the Seventh Cavalry,Comanche draped in mourning and ledBy a trooper of Company I,
Shall parade with the Regiment!Thus it wasCommanded and thus done,By order of General Sturgis, signedBy Adjutant Garlington.
Even as the sword of Custer,In his disastrous fall,Flashed out a blaze that charmed the worldAnd glorified his pall,
This order, issued amid the gloomThat shrouds our army's name,When all foul beasts are free to rendAnd tear its honest fame,
Shall prove to a callous peopleThat the sense of a soldier's worth,That the love of comrades, the honour of arms,Have not yet perished from earth.
Words in this poem
- bluff a.
- Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship. [Cf. OD. blaf flat, broad, blaffaert one with a broad face, also, a boaster; or G. verblüffen to confuse, LG. bluffen to frighten; to unknown origin.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- congress n.
- A meeting of individuals, whether friendly or hostile; an encounter. [L. congressus, fr. congredi, p.p. -gressus, to go or come together; con- + grati to go or step, gradus step: cf. F. congr. See Grade.]
- noonday n.
- Midday; twelve o'clock in the day; noon.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- trooper n.
- A soldier in a body of cavalry; a cavalryman; also, the horse of a cavalryman.
- adjutant n.
- A helper; an assistant. [L. adjutans, p. pr. of adjutare to help. See Aid.]
- disastrous a.
- Full of unpropitious stellar influences; unpropitious; ill-boding. [Cf. F. désastreux. See Disaster.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Miles Keogh's Horse is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Hay, Miles Keogh's Horse, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/miles-keogh-s-horse.html, id L21594.
Form and metre
Miles Keogh's Horse is 58 lines in 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 -A-A horn · dayA · hundred · layA
- 2 -A-A thousand · bledA · congress · redA
- 3 -A-A millions · sunA · thousand · oneA
- 4 ABAB menA · skiesB · heavenA · eyesB
- 5 -AAA noonday · ringA · eveningA · thingA
- 6 -A-A slaughter · slainA · wandered · maneA
- 7 -A-A order · readA · comrades · creedA
- 9 -A-A know · reinA · crossed · againA
- 11 --A-A regiment · was · doneA · signed · garlingtonA
- 12 -A-A custer · fallA · world · pallA
- 13 -A-A gloom · nameA · rend · fameA
- 14 -A-A people · worthA · arms · earthA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On the bluff of the Little Big-Horn, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| At the close of a woeful day, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Custer and his Three Hundred | 8 | /˘···/˘˘ |
| In death and silence lay. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Three Hundred to Three Thousand! | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| They had bravely fought and bled; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For such is the will of Congress | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When the White man meets the Red. | 7 | ······· |
| The White men are ten millions, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The thriftiest under the sun; | 7 | ······· |
| The Reds are fifty thousand, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And warriors every one. | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘˘· |
| So Custer and all his fighting-men | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Lay under the evening skies, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Staring up at the tranquil heaven | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| With wide, accusing eyes. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| And of all that stood at noonday | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In that fiery scorpion ring, | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| Miles Keogh's horse at evening | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Was the only living thing. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Alone from that field of slaughter, | 8 | ˘/····/˘ |
| Where lay the three hundred slain, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| The horse Comanche wandered, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| With Keogh's blood on his mane. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And Sturgis issued this order, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Which future times shall read, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| While the love and honour of comrades | 9 | ····/˘·/· |
| Are the soul of the soldiers creed. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He said-- | 2 | ·· |
| Let the horse Comanche | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Henceforth till he shall die, | 6 | //···· |
| Be kindly cherished and cared for | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| By the Seventh Cavalry. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| He shall do no labour; he never shall know | 10 | ····/˘·/·· |
| The touch of spur or rein; | 6 | ······ |
| Nor shall his back be ever crossed | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By living rider again. | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘/ |
| And at regimental formation | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Of the Seventh Cavalry, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Comanche draped in mourning and led | 9 | ˘/˘··/˘·· |
| By a trooper of Company I, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Shall parade with the Regiment! | 8 | ·˘/··/˘˘ |
| Thus it was | 3 | ··· |
| Commanded and thus done, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| By order of General Sturgis, signed | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| By Adjutant Garlington. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Even as the sword of Custer, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| In his disastrous fall, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Flashed out a blaze that charmed the world | 8 | ········ |
| And glorified his pall, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| This order, issued amid the gloom | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/·· |
| That shrouds our army's name, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| When all foul beasts are free to rend | 8 | ········ |
| And tear its honest fame, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Shall prove to a callous people | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| That the sense of a soldier's worth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That the love of comrades, the honour of arms, | 11 | ····/··/˘·· |
| Have not yet perished from earth. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
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.