Full-muscled, clean, clear-cut, without a flaw,
Deep-chested--shallow where the quick flanks draw--
Round-footed, flat and flinty in the bone,
Eyes full and flashing, as the opal stone,
Neck like the deep-grooved classic column’s ply--
Massive at base, tap’ring towards the sky,
Ears thin and slender, velvet-pointed, fine
As the unbursted leaflets of the columbine.
Shoulders well back, slanting, thin and strong,
Ribbed close as steel, where girders run along;
Quarters long and massive, rubber-hard and round,
Quick in the stride, but quicker in rebound--
Back like the beam that held Pantheon’s dome--
Gods, give the word, and see this horse come home!