This was what the pointsman said,
With both hands at his throbbing head:—
"I drew the wrong lever standing here
And the danger signals stood at clear;
"But before I could draw it back again
On came the fast express, and then—
"There came a roar and a crash that shook
This cabin-floor, but I could not look
"At the wreck, for I knew the dead would peer
With strange dull eyes at their murderer here."
"Drew the wrong lever?" "Yes, I say!
Go, tell my wife, and—take me away!"
That was what the pointsman said,
With both hands at his throbbing head.
O ye of this nineteenth century time,
Who hold low dividends as a crime,
Listen. So long as a twelve-hours' strain
Rests like a load of lead on the brain,
With its ringing of bells and rolling of wheels,
Drawing of levers until one feels
The hands grow numb with a nerveless touch,
And the handles shake and slip in the clutch,
So long will ye have pointsmen to say—
"Drew the wrong lever! take me away!"
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Comments
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Interesting rhyme, and also a good poem about the danger of 12 hour working
This was an interesting poem about the Industrial Revolution and some of the dangers of work, I thought it was pretty obvious that there was irony here and also that it was an accident. The man who pulled the lever was not the true killer- society was the true killer
Pozo
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This is a good piece and has a certain aura around it. I assume that this is lamenting over the perils fo twelve hour workdays. It was written at a time of the First Industrial Revolution, when trains became one of the main methods of transportation, displacing ships and the canal system (about 1861). It is obviously attributing the length of a workday to atrocity. Good poem.
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I guy accidently, as it seems, drew the wrong lever and killed many or a few people and he contends since he did this, that he is a murderer. Unless he actually did pull the wrong lever on purpose than he would be.
I like the pacing, the rhyming, and the story in this piece, it seems to draw a conclusion for the reader yet as well places them in the situation.
A good piece that Anderson has written here.
Edited on Mar 12, 6:18 because ''.
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