Classic and Contemporary Poetry
RAILWAY DREAMINGS, by ALEXANDER ANDERSON Poet's Biography First Line: I work upon the line to-day Last Line: In the sharp raspings of the pick. Alternate Author Name(s): Surfaceman Subject(s): Railroads; Railways; Trains | ||||||||
I work upon the line to-day, The rails on either side of me, But all my fancies wing their way, Like swallows flying out to sea. And ever as they speed, I dream Of all the coming thousand things That time will herald with a beam Of light from off his windless wings: What changes in the great to Be Evolving broad, and far, and grand, What faiths by which our kind shall see That spinning creeds is spinning sand: What worlds we dare not dream of now, When Science with her eagle ken Holds a white hand above her brow To bring them nearer unto men: When all the canker and the pride Shall sink, and all the good in store Will work and toil with us, and glide Like Christ, among the lowly poor: When war, a red and sulky hell Upbursting through the green of earth, Shall sink for ever, but to dwell In chaos where it first had birth: When all the lower man is sunk, To leave him as of old again, Ere that one taint had made him drunk With the wild wine that devils drain: What songs whose melody shall start The higher music pure and free, In poets hymning strong of heart The labour Epics that will be. Then the great brotherhood of man Will sing its universal psalm, And Peace from paradise again Come smiling underneath the palm. Ay, speed the time when, strong of breath And heart that not a fear can quail, We keep to all the higher faith As the wild engine keeps the rail: When, brain and heart no longer twain, We work -- God's sky above us blue -- 'Stand clear, man, for that Pullman train, Not twenty lengths of rail from you!' I leap aside, the train roars past, And all my fancies, worn and sick, Come slowly back, to die at last In the sharp raspings of the pick. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RAILWAY by ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER BENSON WHAT WE DID TO WHAT WE WERE by PHILIP LEVINE BURYING GROUND BY THE TIES by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH WAY-STATION by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH TWILIGHT TRAIN by EILEEN MYLES THE CAVEMAN ON THE TRAIN by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS CUDDLE DOON by ALEXANDER ANDERSON A SONG FOR MY FELLOWS by ALEXANDER ANDERSON A SONG OF LABOUR; DEDICATED TO MY FELLOW-WORKERS WITH PICK AND SHOVEL by ALEXANDER ANDERSON |
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