From a Railway Carriage
Robert Louis Stevenson · 1885
Stevenson's rhythm gallops like the train itself, rattling past hedges, cattle and children in a blur of quick, vivid glimpses. It is one of the great read-aloud party pieces, made for a fast, breathless voice.
From A Child's Garden of Verses. See the whole collection.
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;
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;
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 along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone for ever!
Public domain. Text from A Child's Garden of Verses (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1885), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition