Poems and Songs

Song of the Cattle-Hunters

Henry Kendall


WHILE the morning light beams on the fern-matted streams,
    And the water-pools flash in its glow,
Down the ridges we fly, with a loud ringing cry—
    Down the ridges and gullies we go!
And the cattle we hunt—they are racing in front,
    With a roar like the thunder of waves,
As the beat and the beat of our swift horses’ feet
    Start the echoes away from their caves!
                As the beat and the beat
                Of our swift horses’ feet
    Start the echoes away from their caves!

Like a wintry shore that the waters ride o’er,
    All the lowlands are filling with sound;
For swiftly we gain where the herds on the plain,
    Like a tempest, are tearing the ground!
And we’ll follow them hard to the rails of the yard,
    O’er the gulches and mountain-tops grey,
Where the beat and the beat of our swift horses’ feet
    Will die with the echoes away!
                Where the beat and the beat
                Of our swift horses’ feet
    Will die with the echoes away!


Back    |    Words Home    |    Kendall Home    |    Site Info.    |    Feedback