The following poem was written a few years ago after reading Shakespeare's Sonnet 50 which you may read for yourself here.
Shakespeare's
Horse
(In
response to Sonnet 50)
Magnificent
was the beast
Who
carried our noblest poet,
The
one who gave voice to humanity's woes and triumphs;
Whose
song would be heard for ages to come
And
whose words would set the standard
For a
new era.
Perhaps
it was a country lane,
Or it
may have been a London
side street
That
they traveled that day.
"Beast
of burden" is too trite a term
For
the equine essence
Who
collaborated in the Bard's journey.
The
man bore within his heart
All
the joys and sorrows of a people,
And
enough dreams of love and despair
to fill the world.
It was
not the first time
That a
four-legged creature
Carried
humanity's hopes
Along
an earthly road.
Which
is why one is jolted
Disappointed
And
dismayed
To
hear of the poet thoughtlessly kicking
A
bloody spur
Into
the side
Of his
creature companion.
How
unlike a god.
But
here is that redeeming moment seen
Which
covers many doubts that might have been:
The
horse's groan
Resonated
with the poet's own grief
And
gave voice to his unutterable heart-felt emotion.
It
brought the man to himself
To
live in the moment
On the
road,
On the
journey,
Bearing
his own burden.
And
the groan shared by man and beast
Spoke
more than all the words that would come
From
the acclaimed poet's pen.
Charles Kinnaird
*
