Railway Poems 

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STEAMBOATS, VIADUCTS AND RAILWAYS  
   
 Motions and Means, on land and sea at war 
 With old poetic feeling, not for this, 
 Shall ye, by Poets even, be judged amiss! 
 Nor shall your presence, howsoe'er it mar 
 The loveliness of Nature, prove a bar 5 
 To the Mind's gaining that prophetic sense 
 Of future change, that point of vision, whence 
 May be discovered what in soul ye are. 
 In spite of all that beauty may disown 
 In your harsh features, Nature doth embrace 10 
 Her lawful offspring in Man's art; and Time, 
 Pleased with your triumphs o'er his brother Space,
 Accepts from your bold hands the proffered crown 
 Of hope, and smiles on you with cheer sublime. 

William Wordsworth 

 

From a Railway Carriage by R.L. Stevenson

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And here is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road