LESSON 58 FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE

FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE

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 [1] ;

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 [2] ;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And there is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart run away in the road

Lumping [3] along with man and load;

And here is a mill and there is a river:

Each a glimpse [4] and gone for ever!

—ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

* * *

[1] driving rain: Rain blown along by the wind.

[2] brambles: The berries of a prickly shrub.

[3] lumping: Jolting, rolling heavily.

[4] glimpse: View seen just for a moment.