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10
What new-made dangers to meet or shun!
A thousand events, with perils rife,
Reach up or downward, to grasp a life;
A thousand forces, in gleam or gloom,
Are maybe canvassing for the tomb.
The broken rail, or the shattered wheel,
The watchman's slumber, the bandit's zeal,
The traitor-switch, the signal astray,
The wrecker's dispute of the right of way,
All risked by the devotees of speed,
And oft, by God's mercy, escaped, indeed:
But often are seen, ere Death is paid,
These palaces into shambles made!
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