New Hampshire · Chapter
The Runaway explained
A speaker and companion observe a young Morgan colt panicking in the falling snow, bolting and returning to a mountain pasture wall.
What happens
A speaker and companion observe a young Morgan colt panicking in the falling snow, bolting and returning to a mountain pasture wall. The speaker interprets the colt's fear as a lack of winter-hardiness and criticizes whoever left him out so late, urging that he be taken in.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and Transience
The poem captures the transient moment of a snowstorm and the colt's instinctive fear, highlighting nature's power and the vulnerability of young life.
Isolation and Community
The colt's isolation in the pasture and the speaker's call for someone to take him in underscore the tension between solitary exposure and communal responsibility.
Characters to notice
- Morgan
The little Morgan colt, frightened by the snow and running away, is the central figure of the poem.
Key passages
“I think the little fellow’s afraid of the snow. He isn’t winter-broken. It isn’t play With the little fellow at all. He’s running away.”
The speaker believes the colt is genuinely terrified of the snow because he hasn't been trained to endure winter, and his flight is not playful but fearful.
This paraphrase captures the core interpretation of the colt's behavior as fear rather than play.
“Whoever it is that leaves him out so late, When other creatures have gone to stall and bin, Ought to be told to come and take him in.”
The speaker insists that the person responsible for leaving the colt out in the snow should be informed and made to bring him to shelter.
This highlights the poem's implicit critique of neglect and the need for care.