Horseman, Pass By

Horseman, Pass By is a Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. His first novel, it was
published when he was 25. This 1961 Western portrays life on a cattle ranch from the perspective of young narrator Lonnie Bannon. Set in post-World War II Texas (1954), the Bannon ranch is owned by Lonnie’s grandfather, Homer Bannon. Homer’s ruthless stepson, Hud, stands as the primary antagonist of the novel. The novel inspired the film Hud, starring Paul Newman as the title character.
The title of the novel derives from the last three lines of the poem “Under Ben Bulben” by William Butler Yeats, which are carved on Yeats’s tombstone:

Cast a cold eyeOn life, on death.
Horseman, pass by.