The Engine

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



Into the gloom of the deep, dark night,
With panting breath and a startled scream;
Swift as a bird in sudden flight
Darts this creature of steel and steam.

Awful dangers are lurking nigh,
Rocks and chasms are near the track,
But straight by the light of its great white eye
It speeds through the shadows, dense and black.

Terrible thoughts and fierce desires
Trouble its mad heart many an hour,
Where burn and smoulder the hidden fires,
Coupled ever with might and power.

It hates, as a wild horse hates the rein,
The narrow track by vale and hill;
And shrieks with a cry of startled pain,
And longs to follow its own wild will.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

35 sec read
174

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 633
Words 118
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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