Over the meadow bounds the skittish colt, 
And dashes in swift course the bord ring wave, 
Or scours the hollow of the lofty mount, 
And plashes through the stony stream unshod.
Fierce shines his comely front, his waving mane 
Wantons in wind, his ears prick quavering up.
From his round jetty head his ample eye 
Out standeth full; from his wide nostril darts 
The breath as if on flame; his curving neck
Stands lofty up, such as full forward bears 
The bird, whose voice bids lions stand in awe, 
Whose watchful note calls up the loit'ring morn.
Round-circling plump does swell his breast abroad, 
With courage fraught undaunted; high arise 
His even shoulders, ridging slender up.
And now his back the saddle well becomes.
Along his loins does double run the chine;
Thick flanks truss up his belly tight and smooth;
His buttocks in good liking spread themselves;
He cocks his tail rough-frisling full of hair;
The copious locks o’erflow his lusty neck, 
Down his right shoulder floating to and fro.
Bold does he turn his nimble shank around
Tied firm within a knee shaped round and long.
Fierce he bears forward with his look aloft, 
And prances stately neighing all the way.
His deep horn hollow hoof treads thund'ring down;
Resembling so the stamping dance and noise 
Of brazen cymbals loud, wherewith her priests 
Did celebrate the rites of Cybele.

George Farewell (fl. 1733) -  "The Country Man" from The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth-Century Verse


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#225 – The invention of the wheel, and the power of storytelling Human Voices Wake Us

An episode from 4/13/26: Tonight, I read about the invention of the wheel and what it meant for the earliest communities of Europe and the Eurasian steppes, from David Anthony’s The Horse, the Wheel, and Language.After this, a few passages from Norman Longmate’s How We Lived Then: A History of Everyday Life During the Second World War tells the story of gasoline rationing in England during the war, and the sometimes-comical lengths people went to hoard the fuel they could get a hold of.Finally, passages from S. Y. Agnon’s Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days and Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism illustrate the power of language and storytelling in the Jewish tradition.The best way to support the podcast is by leaving a review on Apple or Spotify, sharing it with others, or sending me a note on what you think. You can also order any of my books: Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire, Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. I've also edited a handful of books in the S4N Pocket Poems series. I also have a YouTube channel where I share poems and excerpts from these books, mostly as YouTube shorts.Email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com.
  1. #225 – The invention of the wheel, and the power of storytelling
  2. #224: Let's talk about William Blake
  3. #223 – How to write two novels at the same time, with Charles Dickens
  4. #222: Seamus Heaney – 10 Essential Poems
  5. #221: Volcanoes, Plagues & the Childhood of a Kabbalist
  6. #220: The working poor and a so-so murder show
  7. #219: When a paragraph changes your life
  8. #218: Poetry to Live By
  9. #217: Voices from 1900-1914
  10. #216: Poets, Prophets, Seeresses & Goddesses from Time & the River

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