Pegasus in Pound

Pegasus in Pound is this poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Once into a quiet village,
 &nbsp:Without haste and without heed,
In the golden prime of morning,
 &nbsp:Strayed the poet's winged steed.

It was Autumn, and incessant
 &nbsp:Piped the quails from shocks and sheaves,
And, like living coals, the apples
 &nbsp:Burned among the withering leaves.

Loud the clamorous bell was ringing
 &nbsp:From its belfry gaunt and grim;
'T was the daily call to labor,
 &nbsp:Not a triumph meant for him.

Not the less he saw the landscape,
 &nbsp:In its gleaming vapor veiled;
Not the less he breathed the odors
 &nbsp:That the dying leaves exhaled.

Thus, upon the village common,
 &nbsp:By the school-boys he was found;
And the wise men, in their wisdom,
 &nbsp:Put him straightway into pound.

Then the sombre village crier,
 &nbsp:Ringing loud his brazen bell,
Wandered down the street proclaiming
 &nbsp:There was an estray to sell.

And the curious country people,
 &nbsp:Rich and poor, and young and old,
Came in haste to see this wondrous
 &nbsp:Winged steed, with mane of gold.

Thus the day passed, and the evening
 &nbsp:Fell, with vapors cold and dim;
But it brought no food nor shelter,
 &nbsp:Brought no straw nor stall, for him.

Patiently, and still expectant,
 &nbsp:Looked he through the wooden bars,
Saw the moon rise o'er the landscape,
 &nbsp:Saw the tranquil, patient stars;

Till at length the bell at midnight
 &nbsp:Sounded from its dark abode,
And, from out a neighboring farm-yard
 &nbsp:Loud the cock Alectryon crowed.

Then, with nostrils wide distended,
 &nbsp:Breaking from his iron chain,
And unfolding far his pinions,
 &nbsp:To those stars he soared again.

On the morrow, when the village
 &nbsp:Woke to all its toil and care,
Lo! the strange steed had departed,
 &nbsp:And they knew not when nor where.

But they found, upon the greensward
 &nbsp:Where his straggling hoofs had trod,
Pure and bright, a fountain flowing
 &nbsp:From the hoof-marks in the sod.

From that hour, the fount unfailing
 &nbsp:Gladdens the whole region round,
Strengthening all who drink its waters,
 &nbsp:While it soothes them with its sound.