Project Gutenberg 2009-10-18 Public domain in the USA. 145 Holmes, Oliver Wendell 1809 1894 Pyle, Howard 1853 1911 47041022 The One Hoss Shay With its Companion Poems How the Old Horse Won the Bet & The Broomstick Train Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) "The One Hoss Shay" by Oliver Wendell Holmes is a whimsical collection of poems written in the late 19th century. The primary poem tells the amusing tale of a uniquely constructed carriage that was designed to last indefinitely but ultimately falls apart all at once. The book explores themes of ingenuity, the passage of time, and the inevitable decline of all things, blending humor with a reflective tone. In the titular poem, "The Deacon's Masterpiece," a dedicated deacon painstakingly builds a horse-drawn carriage, ensuring every part is equally strong to prevent it from breaking down. This careful craftsmanship leads to the creation of a seemingly perfect vehicle that operates for a hundred years until, on the anniversary of its completion, it unexpectedly disassembles in a dramatic fashion. The subsequent poem, "How the Old Horse Won the Bet," narrates the unexpected triumph of an older horse in a racing bet, illustrating themes of perseverance and surprise. Lastly, "The Broomstick Train" weaves a playful tale of witches returning from the afterlife and commandeering a train, leading to mischievous adventures. Through clever rhyme and engaging storytelling, Holmes captures the quirks of human nature and the passage of time with charm and wit. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 71.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en American poetry PS Text Category: Poetry Category: Humour Category: American Literature 94866 2025-07-12T11:11:26.972741 text/html 68772 2024-10-24T20:27:47 text/html 5893980 2025-07-12T11:11:38.213710 application/epub+zip 5863725 2025-07-12T11:11:30.807725 application/epub+zip 97596 2025-07-12T11:11:28.908727 application/epub+zip 5916519 2025-07-12T11:11:43.391652 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 5875527 2025-07-12T11:11:35.311725 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 178991 2022-09-14T05:25:00.679656 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 51729 2025-07-12T11:11:25.944739 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 31775 2024-10-24T20:27:47 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 51838 2021-01-05T18:40:10 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20924 2025-07-12T11:11:43.762643 application/rdf+xml 12843 2025-07-12T11:11:29.422741 image/jpeg 3393 2025-07-12T11:11:29.168720 image/jpeg 5604607 2021-01-05T18:40:10 application/octet-stream application/zip 19015 2021-01-05T18:40:10 application/octet-stream application/zip 5676968 2025-07-12T11:11:27.272745 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia en.wikipedia