The poem describes a vivid memory of a summer. Throughout the summer, the speaker would prance around on a wodden horse in her yard. However, the wooden horse was much more than that to the girl. To her, the wooden horse was a part of herself. She was not only the horse's rider, but she was also the horse itself.
Each day the girl would travel to her "stable," which in reality was only a willow grove. The girl carved a new horse everyday. This action shows how persistent the girl is. Playing with her horse was something more than imagining or pretending. The girl would actually become the horse. She even goes to the extremity of eating clover from the field while she plays with the horse. That wooden horse was capable of doing extraordinary things to her.
One cal tell that the speaker adored riding her wooden horse by the descriptions she uses in the poem. She shares many characteristics that a horse possesses. Her hair was like a horse's mane. She states the dust looked lovely as is rose up in the sky from her galloping hoofs. In the ninth and tenth stanzas, the speaker states that "(her) head and (her) neck were shaped like a horse." The speaker also behaves the same as a horse. This part of the poem is the turning point. Her adoration surpasses normality and is transformed into a strange obsession.
In the thirteenth stanze the speaker states that "(she) was the horse and the rider." After she is done playing, she enters the house to wash up. Her mother asks "Why is your mouth all green?" The girl casually replies "Rob Roy, he pulled some clovers as we crossed the field." The girl expects for her mother to agree that this kind of behavior is not peculiar, but normal. Afterall, from her point of view her actions are usual.
By imitatin the actions of an actual horse, but actually being a human, the girl is transformed and could be viewed as a centaur. She considers her behavior to be unusual. Afterall, she really believes that she is a horse while playing in the field. In all reality, she is only a human being. Despite what she wants to believe, that is all she ever will be.
