(_I hear in my heart, I hear in its ominous pulses All day, on the road, the hoofs of invisible horses, All night, from their stalls, the importunate pawing and neighing._) We spur to a land of no name, out-racing the storm-wind; We leap to the infinite dark like sparks from the anvil. Thou leadest, O God! All's well with Thy troopers that follow. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY This poem is somewhat like the _Road-Hymn for the Start_, on page 184. It is about those people who go forward eagerly into the work of the world, without fearing, and without shrinking from difficulties. Read it through completely, trying to get its meaning. Regard the lines in italic as a kind of chorus, and study the meaning of the other stanzas first. Who are the galloping legions? A _stirrup-cup_ was a draught of wine, taken just before a rider began his journey; it was usually drunk to some one's health. Is _dolour_ a common word? Is it good here? Try to put into your own words the ideas in the "land of no name," and "the infinite dark," remembering what is said above about the general meaning of the poem. What picture and what idea do you get from "like sparks from the anvil"? Now go back to the lines in italic, and look for their meaning. What do you notice about the length of the words in this poem? Why has the author used this kind of words? Notice carefully how the sound and the sense are made harmonious. Look for the rhyme. How does the poem differ from most short poems? Bead the verses aloud, trying to make your reading suggest "the hoofs of invisible horses." OTHER POEMS TO READ A Troop of the Guard Hermann Hagedorn How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix Robert Browning Through the Metidja to Abd-el-Kadr " " Reveille Bret Harte A Song of the Road Richard Watson Gilder The House and the Road J.P. Peabody The Mystic Cale Young Rice (In _The Little Book of Modern Verse_, Ed. by J.B. Rittenhouse.) A Winter Ride Amy Lowell (In _The Little Book of Modern Verse_.) The Ride Clinton Scollard (In _Songs of Sunrise Lands_.) CHRISTMAS IN THE WOODS DALLAS LORE SHARP (In _The Lay of the Land_) On the night before this particular Christmas every creature of the woods that could stir was up and stirring; for over the old snow was falling swiftly, silently, a soft, fresh covering that might mean a hungry Christmas unless the dinner were had before morning.