Dawn

(From the train between Bologna and Milan, second class)

Opposite me two Germans snore and sweat.
— Through sullen swirling gloom we jolt and roar.
We have been here for ever: even yet
— A dim watch tells two hours, two aeons, more.
The windows are tight-shut and slimy-wet
— With a night's faetor. There are two hours more;
Two hours to dawn and Milan; two hours yet.
— Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore. . . .

One of them wakes, and spits, and sleeps again.
— The darkness shivers. A wan light through the rain
Strikes on our faces, drawn and white. Somewhere
— A new day sprawls; and, inside, the foul air
Is chill, and damp, and fouler than before. . . .
— Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore.

(From the train between Bologna and Milan, second class)

Opposite me two Germans snore and sweat.
— Through sullen swirling gloom we jolt and roar.
We have been here for ever: even yet
— A dim watch tells two hours, two aeons, more.
The windows are tight-shut and slimy-wet
— With a night's faetor. There are two hours more;
Two hours to dawn and Milan; two hours yet.
— Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore. . . .

One of them wakes, and spits, and sleeps again.
— The darkness shivers. A wan light through the rain
Strikes on our faces, drawn and white. Somewhere
— A new day sprawls; and, inside, the foul air
Is chill, and damp, and fouler than before. . . .
— Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore.

(From the train between Bologna and Milan, second class)

Opposite me two Germans snore and sweat.
— Through sullen swirling gloom we jolt and roar.
We have been here for ever: even yet
— A dim watch tells two hours, two aeons, more.
The windows are tight-shut and slimy-wet
— With a night's faetor. There are two hours more;
Two hours to dawn and Milan; two hours yet.
— Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore. . . .

One of them wakes, and spits, and sleeps again.
— The darkness shivers. A wan light through the rain
Strikes on our faces, drawn and white. Somewhere
— A new day sprawls; and, inside, the foul air
Is chill, and damp, and fouler than before. . . .
— Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore.
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