Classic Poem

PROLOGUE

I AM the Juggernaut
Crushing beneath my wheel
All that is finest wrought;
Iron and wood and steel
Shatter and writhe and reel,
Yielding before my greed —
I am the Lust for Speed!

What do I care for cries,
What unto me are throes,
What do I reck who dies —
I am the will of those,
Who from the phalanx rose,
Captains of business need —
I am the Lust for Speed!

Lo! I must make my way
O'er the vast Continent,
I must hold Time at bay,
Rush till the rails be rent
Reek from the girders bent,
Mine is the criminal deed —
I am the Lust for Speed.

And when the Ocean's toll
Reaches to hundred score,
When Death's defiant roll
Clamors for more and more
Than ever claimed before;
What though my victims plead —
I am the Lust for Speed!

I must the record break,
I must be ever first,
None shall my laurels take,
Mine is the burning thirst
Bred from the greed accursed;
Nor shall a rival lead —
I am the Lust for Speed!

Captains of Industry,
Pause but a single hour!
Those who so silent lie
Voice my malignant power;
This is their final dower,
Death and Despair decreed —
By the fell Lust for Speed.