7 h 3 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Hear the hoofbeats, then the silence: these poems race through horse and bush life into regret and loss.
Adam Lindsay Gordon writes verse that gallops. His ballads bring you stockmen, racehorses, hunts and steeplechases, with strong beats that invite you to read aloud. His work as a mounted policeman, horse breaker and rider in South Australia feeds the poems. The language is plain, but the rhythm gives these stories their drive and pull.
In The Sick Stockrider, a dying man rests in the shade and talks to a friend. Elsewhere, shipwreck, regret and self-reproach darken the mood, especially in Sea Spray and Smoke Drift. This poetry moves between the rush of riding and quieter moments of looking back, giving you more than speed: it makes room for sorrow.
What you’ll discover
- Stories with a pulse Follow ballads of stockmen and racehorses, carried by strong beats and long, swinging lines.
- A stockrider looks back Meet the dying speaker of The Sick Stockrider as he talks with a friend.
- Horses on the page Enter poems shaped by Gordon’s working life in the saddle, from hunts to steeplechases.
- The darker sea Explore shipwreck and loss in verse that turns away from the exhilaration of riding.
- Words for the ear Read aloud and feel the regular beats carry each long line like a canter.
Who will love it
Perfect for lovers of galloping rhythm, horses, the Australian bush and old tales of knights and lost love, and for anyone who enjoys verse that sounds best read aloud.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A horseman poet from two worlds
- Dying heroes and brave deaths open the book
- The wayfarer rests and rides his memories
- Ballads of love, betrayal and revenge
- Doubt, drink and the sound of the sea
- Racing rhymes from Hippodromania
- Bush ballads that made his name
- Knights, cavaliers and lost love in history
- Ashtaroth, a verse drama of temptation
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon
A dying stockrider asks his mate to lift him down and lay him in the shade.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What does a man think about as he lies dying in the saddle country of colonial Australia? Adam Lindsay Gordon, a British-born steeplechase rider who died in 1870, answers in galloping verse.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A horseman poet from two worlds
Adam Lindsay Gordon was born in 1833 and made his name in Australia as a steeplechase rider and poet. His verse carries two homes at once. One is the English countryside of hunts, hedges and old ballads. The other is the dry bush, with its creeks, stations and wattle blossom.
The volume shows this split early. A set of farewell poems, written just before he sailed for Australia in 1853, speaks to a sister and to friends left behind. They are the words of a restless young man who says he cares little for loss, yet keeps returning to a childhood grave and a hawthorn bough. The same mix of swagger and sorrow runs through the whole book.
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Who was Adam Lindsay Gordon?
He was a British-born poet and steeplechase rider who lived in Australia and died in 1870. His poems about horses, the bush and brave endings made him a leading voice of colonial Australian verse.
What is The Sick Stockrider about?
It is a ballad spoken by a dying rider to his mate Ned. As they stop in the shade, he recalls their rides, the chase of bushrangers and the friends who have gone before him.
What kinds of poems are in this collection?
The volume holds bush ballads, racing verses such as Hippodromania, stories of knights, sea and wreck poems, short songs and a long verse drama called Ashtaroth.
The author
Adam Lindsay Gordon
1833–1870 · Australian poet
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–1870) was an Australian poet, jockey and politician. He moved to South Australia in 1853 and later lived in Victoria. He served in South Australia’s parliament from 1865 to 1866. His poetry collections included Sea Spray and Smoke Drift (1867) and Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes (1870).
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