Ride Him Away
Now that I weary, lad o' my heart,
I will not say that the sun is cold—
The days go heavily, joys depart,
The feet can never be quite so bold—
But you have the eyes ... and the lights of gold
Run like rivers around the day:
When I am dead,
Bound to a bed,
Take my horse, my holiday horse,
Ride him away!
He will not tarry where grey men halt
And long confer of the coming doom;
But he will loiter (an old-time fault)
In shady place, where summer bloom
And whites and yellows defeat the gloom
While birds speak up to the heat of day:
When I am dead,
Heavy as lead,
Take my horse, my holiday horse,
Ride him away!
He will tarry long where the children play.
The young ears listen to sounds that stir
When we have wandered too far away ...
The clouds come over, the lights demur,
The red goes into the lavender,
When Love has fallen, oh, who would stay?
When I am dead,
Nailed to a bed,
Take my horse, my holiday horse,
Ride him away!
He may stop and linger at some old tree,
A place of lovers and night come down,
Where grasses listen and flowers agree
Till the moon as white as a wedding gown
Puts her tremour upon a town,
And little lovers have tears to say:
When I am dead,
Straight in a bed,
Take my horse, my holiday horse,
Ride him away!
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
- government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 81 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse