Nelson brings a wealth of experiences to this poem. He lives in Texas on a cattle ranch and is an excellent horse trainer, although he is recognized in the area of cowboy poetry. He was at one time poet-in-residence at Rothbury, Northumberland, England.
Key terms: binary, structure, rhyme, repetition, parallel structure
Equus Callabus
Written in the Autumn of the Year of the Horse 2002
I have run on middle fingernail through Eolithic morning,
I have thundered down the coach road with the Revolution’s warning.
I have carried countless errant knights who never found the grail.
I have strained before the caissons I have moved the nation’s mail.
I’ve made knights of lowly tribesmen and kings from ranks of peons
I have given pride and arrogance to riding men for eons.
I have grazed among the lodges and the tepees and the yurts.
I have felt the sting of driving whips, lashes, spurs and quirts.
I am roguish – I am flighty – I am inbred – I am lowly.
I’m a nightmare – I am wild – I am the horse.
I am gallant and exalted – I am stately – I am noble.
I’m impressive – I am grand – I am the horse.
I have suffered gross indignities from users and from winners,
I have felt the hand of kindness from the losers and the sinners.
I have given for the cruel hand and given for the kind.
Heaved a sigh at Appomattox when surrender had been signed.
I can be as tough as hardened steel – as fragile as a flower.
I know not my endurance and I know not my own power.
I have died with heart exploded ’neath the cheering in the stands -
Calmly stood beneath the hanging noose of vigilante bands.
I have traveled under conqueror and underneath the beaten.
I have never chosen sides – I am the horse.
The world is but a player’s stage – my roles have numbered many.
Under blue or under gray – I am the horse.
So I’ll run on middle fingernail until the curtain closes,
And I will win your triple crowns and I will wear your roses.
Toward you who took my freedom I’ve no malice or remorse.
I’ll endure – This Is My Year – I am the Horse!
Although Nelson's poem is written in first person, it reads much like an ode to the horse. The poem describes various qualities of the horse, many of which would only be known to someone as familiar as Nelson. The narrator is the horse - likely not a particular horse, but "the Horse," which could represent the community of horses. The horse/narrator is arguing its worth and speaking directly to humankind in the last stanza: "Toward you who took my freedom I've no malice or remorse. / I'll endure - This Is My Year - I am the Horse!" The poem relies on binaries, which are sets of opposite descriptions. "I can be as tough as hardened steel - as fragile as a flower" is an example of this. The poem, in its structure, feels musical and elegant; it follows a quatrain form throughout with an aabb rhyme scheme. These qualities make the poem not only quite readable and enjoyable, but great for recitation.
http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/238308
To add what you were saying about it being a ode, it seems the author really praises the horse when he says "I've made knights of lowly tribesmen and kings from ranks of peons." Like he's saying it's the horse who makes the man because of the horse's elegance and nobility. It's really interesting because I know I don't usually think of the horse when someone is riding it, but a person on a horse does appear to be higher up.
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