Now off—now on—now up—now down,—and flung from side to side!
I tried to speak, but had no voice, to soothe her with its tone—
My scanty breath was jolted out with many a sudden groan—
My joints were racked—my back was strained, so firmly I had clung—
My nostrils gush'd, and thrice my teeth had bitten through my tongue—
When lo!—farewell all hope of life!—she turn'd and faced the rocks,
None but a flying horse could clear those monstrous granite blocks!
So thought I,—but I little knew the desert pride and fire,
Deriv'd from a most deer-like dam, and lion-hearted sire;
Little I guess'd the energy of muscle, blood, and bone,