Classic Poem

O N THE P ENNSYLVANIAN R AILWAY .

It may seem a simple thing—
?Just one eye upon the gauge,
??And another on the glancing semaphore—
?But the man who wins his wage
??By the engine's furnace-door
???Needs a heart that ne'er looks back,
???As he flies along the track,
With his demon of a fire-drake on the wing.
Leaping gulf and piercing hill,
?Into tunnels with a scream,
??Where the reek it chokes the breath and blinds the eye,
?Neath the cloud of his own steam,
??Under stars that upward fly
???To mingle with the stars
???That flash their colours at the cars,
Goes the driver thro' the night-time with a will.
Daring heart at night it needs,
?But by day the heights appal—
??Dizzy height above, below him dreadful hollow.
?You may almost hear Death call,
??You may almost see Death follow,
???As he roars along with thunder,
???And the great piles quiver under,
While the echo of his coming after speeds.
What a school for heart and head!
?Head and hand and eye as one!
??On the Pennsylvanian road our very cars
?Make us gallants as they run,
??Light the track with hero stars,
???Take our mortal clay and give
???Immortality to live
When our flesh like ash is scattered cold and dead!
It seems gone a month at most,
?I was engine-mate with Bill—
??He the driver, I the fireman, comrades true,
?Proud of “Rocket” standing still,
??Proud of “Rocket” as she flew.
???Talk of sweethearts, men and wives!
???Why, the man who fires or drives
Loves his engine! We were making up time lost.
We had had an awkward ride,
?For the cars were full behind,
??Slope against us, rails all slippery with rain;
?Bill was troubled in his mind,
??Snapped his watch and coiled the chain
???To a knot—“Ten minutes late!”
???As we entered on the straight,
And I looked at him and set the fire doors wide.
How we hissed along that mile!
?How the wires beside the track
??Dipped and danced, and rushed behind us out of sight!
?How the great cars at our back
??Swung to left and swung to right,
???As with thunderclaps we ran
???Under bridge and over span,
Till my mate's face beamed and broadened to a smile!
Fate was swifter than our pace,
?For I sudden heard a cry,
??And the engine shook and shuddered in its gear—
?God have mercy! on we fly
??To our doom in hot career!
???For a switch set hard aback
???Has turned us from the track,
And like lightning thro' the siding points we race!
Then my mate set teeth and said,
?“Will our coupling give or hold?”
??And I felt the cars make sudden backward pull;
?For with spirit lion-bold
??He put steam to fiercest full,
???On the cars set fiercest brake,
???“Jump,” he cried, “Jim, for God's sake!”
So I jumped—but Bill the driver shot ahead—
Never turned nor waved a hand,
?Like an arrow from the bow,
??Straight to death the gallant engine-driver dashed;
?But the heavy cars stopped slow,
??While the “Rocket” leapt and crashed
???Through the siding to its fate,
???Dust to dust—and Bill went straight
To the glory of the Saviour's hero-land.
Well and nobly had he driven!
?And I saw him 'neath the pile—
??Twisted axles, rails like serpents, blood and grime—
?Smiling just as he would smile
??When his engine made up time,
???On his face no sign of fear—
???He had found the road all clear,
As he raced along the track right into Heaven.