Rio Grande's Last Race, and Other Verses

Do They Know

  Do they know?  At the turn to the straight
   Where the favourites fail,
  And every atom of weight
   Is telling its tale;
  As some grim old stayer hard-pressed
   Runs true to his breed,
  And with head just in front of the rest
   Fights on in the lead;
  When the jockeys are out with the whips,
   With a furlong to go;
  And the backers grow white to the lips —
   Do you think THEY don't know?

  Do they know?  As they come back to weigh
   In a whirlwind of cheers,
  Though the spurs have left marks of the fray,
   Though the sweat on the ears
  Gathers cold, and they sob with distress
   As they roll up the track,
  They know just as well their success
   As the man on their back.
  As they walk through a dense human lane,
   That sways to and fro,
  And cheers them again and again,
   Do you think THEY don't know?