Sketches from Life in Town and Country And some Verses: By Edward Carpenter: With Portrait |
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A LOCOMOTIVE |
 | Sketches from Life in Town and Country |  |
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A LOCOMOTIVE
With a rush and a roar, thro' the wind and the rain,
I flash in the light and vanish again,
Where dim to the passenger through the wet pane
A wayside station appears.
'Tis night: all is silent and still. With a scream
I waken the signalman out of his dream;
And his lamps like the flash of a meteor seem
To the passenger wight as he peers.
I flash in the light and vanish again,
Where dim to the passenger through the wet pane
A wayside station appears.
'Tis night: all is silent and still. With a scream
I waken the signalman out of his dream;
And his lamps like the flash of a meteor seem
To the passenger wight as he peers.
Then forward, with flaming front and a bound,
I leap on the dark and devour the ground,
And the night recedes before and around,
And closes upon me behind;
Where, caught in a terrible whirlwind of wheels,
The earth falls dizzily backward and reels
And rises in clouds of dust on my heels,
With dead leaves blown on the wind.
I leap on the dark and devour the ground,
And the night recedes before and around,
And closes upon me behind;
Where, caught in a terrible whirlwind of wheels,
The earth falls dizzily backward and reels
And rises in clouds of dust on my heels,
With dead leaves blown on the wind.
On, into the night, through echoing arch
And loud resounding tunnel I march;
By misty forests of fir and larch,
And over the wind-swept ridge;
And the passenger-mortal, as morning appears,
Half wakes in a world of indefinite fears
And drowsily falls back asleep as he hears
The sound of my feet on the bridge.
And loud resounding tunnel I march;
By misty forests of fir and larch,
And over the wind-swept ridge;
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Half wakes in a world of indefinite fears
And drowsily falls back asleep as he hears
The sound of my feet on the bridge.
A thousand shocks are shattered to one
As over the resonant metals I run
With a storm of sounds enough to stun
The ears of a marble bust.
A swerve, a slip, and that slender life
Is shorn asunder as with a sharp knife,
Or battered from knowledge of brother or wife,
And cast away in the dust.
As over the resonant metals I run
With a storm of sounds enough to stun
The ears of a marble bust.
A swerve, a slip, and that slender life
Is shorn asunder as with a sharp knife,
Or battered from knowledge of brother or wife,
And cast away in the dust.
Yet I am not I to will this thing,
But man arose like a masterful king,
Put fire for my heart, a wheel for wing,
And breathed his breath in my mouth;
And bade me hurry at his behest
With eager feet forgetful of rest
To bear him for ever from East to West,
To bear him from North to South.
But man arose like a masterful king,
Put fire for my heart, a wheel for wing,
And breathed his breath in my mouth;
And bade me hurry at his behest
With eager feet forgetful of rest
To bear him for ever from East to West,
To bear him from North to South.
So whenever I faint, or falter, or tire,
I feel and know in my heart the fire
Of man my master's fierce desire
Impels me forward again.
Let him cling to me now as best he can,
But blame me not if I be his ban,
For since I was made the servant of Man
I am unmindful of men.
I feel and know in my heart the fire
Of man my master's fierce desire
Impels me forward again.
Let him cling to me now as best he can,
But blame me not if I be his ban,
For since I was made the servant of Man
I am unmindful of men.
| Sketches from Life in Town and Country | |