Tuesday poem: From a Railway Carriage by Robert Louis Stevenson
August 20, 2012
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;
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!
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
From A Child’s Garden of Verses
On 7th September, the Poets Train (aka Poetry in Motion) will be leaving Canberra, bound for Sydney. Now this is not a plan by the burghers of the ACT to rid themselves of the tiresome pox of poetry, but an initiative of Australian Poetry, the relatively new national poetry organisation.
Vers libre: No-one is keeping it on the rails. Hence the lack of rails.
We will be composing poetry on the train. A chapbook of poems will result. Countrylink, the NSW train people, will be donating a return fare to anywhere on their network for the best poem. (How that will be judged is something I do not know. But throwing the other poets off the train seems like a wise precaution.)
In Sydney we will read and/or slam, given our preferences. I think it sounds like fun!
I will give an update on the Poetry Train later on. If you’re interested in joining the train, here is the Countrylink page with the details. (Scroll down). It may already be too late, but possibly not. You will have to book accommodation in Sydney (Fiona McIlroy, the organiser, whose email appears on the Countrylink page, may be able to help with suggestions for reasonably priced places and don’t forget a return fare! Unless you decide to stay in that beautiful, comparatively WARM city.)
In the meantime, the feather below may be pressed in an emergency. Such as if you feel the need for more poems.
PS Cottier 
Sounds fabulous!! What a terrific idea. Have fun.
I’m really looking forward to it Mary. You could do a ferry between North and South?
As soon as I saw what poem this was – I was already chugging along on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Train 🙂 Love it. And would so love to join your poetry tour – but will have to make do with being there in spirit – have a fantastic time 🙂
Thank you Alicia! I have tried to comment on your beautiful looking blog several times, since you changed it to the flip cards, and it really doesn’t want me anymore! It has rejected me. So I’ll pretend you’re in my luggage on the train.
Sigh.
Cheers, much appreciated – I can’t wait to hear how much fun you’ve had – and so sorry about my annoying blog – I know it’s a real nuisance if you’re not on blogger itself
Ahah, now I have a (sort of) blogger account for posting the hub poem next week, perhaps I can comment on yours via that! Will try.
I am almost a nerd at times, if not a geek.
Great post wonderful chugger chugger poem! and the rail trip…what a cool thing to do!!! osunds like canberra is looking up.;-)
Indeed! Although, I suppose, the whole point is getting out of Canberra for the weekend. And heading north-east. Thanks Helen.
Also, do you use the term ‘chuggers’ in New Zealand for charity muggers? That is, over-pushy charity collectors, often paid on commission?
Roll on, Poetry Train! What a perfect poem to post for this. Keep us informed about your poetry stops.
I will post a map with the spots where I pushed other poets off marked with pins, Michelle.
(Note to self: Must buy many pins…)
Thanks God for all those hours of pain at the gym, hey? Some of the poets are quite large.