Going Down Hill on a Bicycle

The poem and the poet. 'Going Down Hill on a Bicycle' is by Henry Charles Beeching. A boy rides downhill: feet lifted off the pedals, hands still on the handlebar, the bicycle rushing down by itself.

Flying like a bird. Faster and faster, his heart leaps. He calls out to a bird: look, bird, I am flying too! For a 'golden moment' he shares the bird's feathery life in the air. The golden moment is that short, perfect thrill of the ride down.

Better than skating. In the third stanza he compares the ride to skating: it is better than gliding on steel-shod (steel-bladed) skates over level ground. Nothing on earth, he says, matches this bliss (great happiness).

The ride slows. As the road levels into the vale (valley), the speed fades and his feet find the treadles (pedals) again.

The message. Every hill comes down into a valley. Whoever climbs with toil (hard work) will find wings waiting at the top: the joy of the ride down is the reward for the climb. The feelings in the poem: excitement, freedom, joy.