Life and Phantasy by William Allingham: With frontispiece by Sir John E. Millais: A design by Arthur H. Hughes and a song for voice and piano forte |
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 | Life and Phantasy |  |
71
EXPRESS
(From Liverpool, Southwards.)
We move in elephantine row,
The faces of our friends retire,
The roof withdraws, and curtsying flow
The message-bearing lines of wire;
With doubling, redoubling beat,
Smoother we run and more fleet.
The faces of our friends retire,
The roof withdraws, and curtsying flow
The message-bearing lines of wire;
With doubling, redoubling beat,
Smoother we run and more fleet.
By flow'r-knots, shrubs, and slopes of grass,
Cut walls of rock with ivy-stains,
Thro' winking arches swift we pass,
And flying, meet the flying trains,
Whirr—whirr—gone!
And still we hurry on;
Cut walls of rock with ivy-stains,
Thro' winking arches swift we pass,
And flying, meet the flying trains,
Whirr—whirr—gone!
And still we hurry on;
By orchards, kine in pleasant leas,
A hamlet-lane, a spire, a pond,
Long hedgerows, counter-changing trees,
With blue and steady hills beyond;
(House, platform, post,
Flash—and are lost!)
A hamlet-lane, a spire, a pond,
Long hedgerows, counter-changing trees,
With blue and steady hills beyond;
(House, platform, post,
Flash—and are lost!)
Smooth-edged canals, and mills on brooks;
Old farmsteads, busier than they seem,
Rose-crusted or of graver looks,
Rich with old tile and motley beam;
Clay-cutting, slope, and ridge,
The hollow rumbling bridge.
Old farmsteads, busier than they seem,
Rose-crusted or of graver looks,
Rich with old tile and motley beam;
Clay-cutting, slope, and ridge,
The hollow rumbling bridge.
72
Gray vapour-surges, whirl'd in the wind
Of roaring tunnels, dark and long,
Then sky and landscape unconfined,
Then streets again where workers throng
Come—go. The whistle shrill
Controls us to its will.
Of roaring tunnels, dark and long,
Then sky and landscape unconfined,
Then streets again where workers throng
Come—go. The whistle shrill
Controls us to its will.
Broad vents, and chimneys tall as masts,
With heavy flags of streaming smoke;
Brick mazes, fiery furnace-blasts,
Walls, waggons, gritty heaps of coke;
Through these our ponderous rank
Glides in with hiss and clank.
With heavy flags of streaming smoke;
Brick mazes, fiery furnace-blasts,
Walls, waggons, gritty heaps of coke;
Through these our ponderous rank
Glides in with hiss and clank.
So have we sped our wondrous course
Amid a peaceful busy land,
Subdued by long and painful force
Of planning head and plodding hand.
How much by labour can
The feeble race of man!
Amid a peaceful busy land,
Subdued by long and painful force
Of planning head and plodding hand.
How much by labour can
The feeble race of man!
| Life and Phantasy | |