From A Railway Carriage
by R. L. Stevenson
The Poem:
"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 here is the green for stringing daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mail, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone for ever!"
Summary of the Poem:
Here in this poem, the poet R. L. Stevenson has described the sights and scenes seen through the window of a railway carriage. The rain is passing by the bridges, houses, hedges and ditches with a very high speed which is faster than fairies and witches. It is speeding forward through the meadows of cattle grazing like the troop of soldiers charging along the battle field. The sights of the hill and plain is seen like the fast falling slanting drops of rain. At times, the train passes colourful station instantaneously.
A child is moving quickly with difficulty. He is gathering wild bushes using his both hands and feet. A tramp merely stands and watching all the events happening around him. The poet sees the green scenery of daisies, a cart with man and load, a mill and a river. Everything the poet sees is for a glimpse and those sceneries is lost for ever as the train passes them with speed.
1. Tick the correct sequence in which these things are listed in the poem.
a. stations, a child, a mill, a river, a cart. [ ]
b. a child, stations, a river, a mill, a cart. [ ]
c. stations, a child, a cart, a mill, a river. [✓]
d. a cart, stations, a child, a mill, a river. [ ]
2. Read the lines and answer the following questions:
a. "All of the sights of the hills and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;"
i) List five sights that the poet has mentioned in the poem.
= The five sights that the poet mentioned in the poem are - bridges and houses; hedges and ditches; the meadows and the hills; and plains.
ii) Why does the poet compare the things to 'driving rain'?
= The poet compares the things he sees to driving rain because as the train runs forward, those sights came from the opposite direction as the rain comes driving.
b. "And ever again, in the wink of an eye, Painted stations whistle by."
i) In your own words, give the meaning of 'in an wink of an eye'.
= The meaning of 'in an wink of an eye', means - all of a sudden or in no time.
ii) 'Painted stations whistle by'. What is actually whistle by? What is not moving?
= The train is actually whistling by.
The station is not moving.
iii) After these lines, the poet describes three people who he sees. Who are they?
= The three people are - i) a child, ii) a tramp, and iii) the man in the cart.
3. Draw up a list of all the words in the poem that describe movement.
= The words in poem that describe movement are - 'charging along' and 'fly as thick as driving rain'.
4. To show the speed of the train, the poet says that the things he sees were speeding by. Were there things really speeding? What do you think of this idea?
= Those things were not really speeding. They were still. Rather the train was moving or speeding forward.
The poet has very skilfully drew this idea of looking things from inside a railway carriage. When we are on a railway carriage, we find everything speeding by and we seem still sitting in. But the truth is that our railway carriage moves forward and those things are still.
5. What does 'each a glimpse and gone for ever' mean? How do you think the poet felt as he wrote these lines?
= 'Each a glimpse and gone for ever' means the things outside the railway carriage gave a quick, unclear look for a moment and the train moves forward leaving them behind.
I think the poet felt kind of gloomy and overcast in his mind as he left those things behind and could not look them properly and he could probably never see them again.
About the Poet:
R. L. Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. A versatile writer, he wrote several poems, short stories, novels and essays. The poem given here is from his book titled A Child's Garden of Verses published in 1885.