7 h 3 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 3 minPaperback · 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
Readers who love ballads with a driving beat, horse and hunting scenes, tales of knights and outlaws, and meditations on life and death, and anyone curious about the early voice of the Australian bush.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A restless voice holds everything together
- Human closeness matters more than glory
- The ride becomes a rule for living
- Brief stories leave room for feeling
- Doubt meets the answer of endurance
- The racecourse brings comedy and speed
- Horses and riders share human grief
- Temptation turns adventure into moral choice
- Kindness gives courage its lasting value
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Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon
A rider from England turns the Australian bush, the racecourse, and the battlefield into ballads that gallop.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
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In short
A dying warrior lies in a tent at Troy, and the woman beside him is Briseis. The first poem in this collection gives Achilles the last words he never has in Homer.
Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 10 min3 h 20 min fast, 5 h slow
- Length
- 59,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rider poet shapes a restless collection
Adam Lindsay Gordon was born in 1833 and lived as a steeplechase rider and poet. His verse carries English hunting fields and Norman castles into a land of wattle, gum trees, and dry creeks.
The collection falls into clear parts. Sea Spray and Smoke Drift ranges from Homeric farewells to racecourse comedy. Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes holds the poems most tied to Australia. Then come a few miscellaneous poems and the long dramatic lyric Ashtaroth.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Gordon, Adam Lindsay. Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/poems-by-adam-lindsay-gordon.
Gordon, A. L. (2026). Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/poems-by-adam-lindsay-gordon
Gordon, Adam Lindsay. Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/poems-by-adam-lindsay-gordon.
@book{gordon2026poems,
author = {Gordon, Adam Lindsay},
title = {Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/poems-by-adam-lindsay-gordon}
}
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What is Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon about?
It gathers ballads and lyrics about horse racing, hunting, battle charges, bush life, shipwrecks, lost love, and the meaning of a short life, together with a long dramatic poem called Ashtaroth.
Who was Adam Lindsay Gordon?
He was a British-born steeplechase rider and poet who lived in colonial Australia and died in 1870. His galloping ballads about riders, horses, and the bush made him one of that country's early poets.
What is The Sick Stockrider about?
A dying stockrider is held in the saddle by his friend Ned and recalls old rides, comrades, and a chase after bushrangers. He accepts death calmly and asks for a grave among wattle blossoms.
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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