The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth With Sixteen Illustrations. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton |
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THE BRITANNIA BRIDGE. |
 | The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth |  |
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THE BRITANNIA BRIDGE.
Some have iron thews and sinews, some are muscular of mind;
Learned savans, skilful blacksmiths, each are noble in their kind.
Learned savans, skilful blacksmiths, each are noble in their kind.
But to give the savan's wisdom to the hammer and the shears,
Come those intermediate workers,—England's civil engineers.
Come those intermediate workers,—England's civil engineers.
So does thought gain form and substance, and we see its force at length
Doing wonders far surpassing all the feats of brutal strength.
Doing wonders far surpassing all the feats of brutal strength.
Let it organise the masses, let it make them wise and strong,
So that one man's head shall govern all the labour of the throng.
So that one man's head shall govern all the labour of the throng.
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For mankind—the race—has in it all the elements of power,
Brain and muscle—age in seedtime—early manhood in its flower.
Brain and muscle—age in seedtime—early manhood in its flower.
Ships sail down the straits of Menai, where the current swiftly streams,
And above their lofty mainmasts hang those long colossal beams,
And above their lofty mainmasts hang those long colossal beams,
Hollow corridors of iron, stretched across from shore to shore,
Often murmuring with music like the thunder's distant roar,
Often murmuring with music like the thunder's distant roar,
When the swift trains cross the channel, people thinking as they go
Of the iron walls about them, or the ships that sail below.
Of the iron walls about them, or the ships that sail below.
Long those mighty tubes shall vibrate in the pathway of the winds,
Poems wrought in beaten iron by our most creative minds!
Poems wrought in beaten iron by our most creative minds!
Long those mighty tubes shall murmur on their solid marble towers,
Singing to succeeding ages of the enterprise of ours!
Singing to succeeding ages of the enterprise of ours!
| The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth | |