1. ۱THEE for my recitative!
2. ۲Thee in the driving storm, even as now—the snow—the winter-day declining;
3. ۳Thee in thy panoply, thy measured dual throbbing, and thy beat convulsive;
4. ۴Thy black cylindric body, golden brass, and silvery steel;
5. ۵Thy ponderous side-bars, parallel and connecting rods, gyrating, shuttling at thy sides;
6. ۶Thy metrical, now swelling pant and roar—now tapering in the distance;
7. ۷Thy great protruding head-light, fix’d in front;
8. ۸Thy long, pale, floating vapor-pennants, tinged with delicate purple;
9. ۹The dense and murky clouds out-belching from thy smoke-stack;
10. ۱۰Thy knitted frame—thy springs and valves—the tremulous twinkle of thy wheels;
11. ۱۱Thy train of cars behind, obedient, merrily-following,
12. ۱۲Through gale or calm, now swift, now slack, yet steadily careering:
13. ۱۳Type of the modern! emblem of motion and power! pulse of the continent!
14. ۱۴For once, come serve the Muse, and merge in verse, even as here I see thee,
15. ۱۵With storm, and buffeting gusts of wind, and falling snow;
16. ۱۶By day, thy warning, ringing bell to sound its notes,
17. ۱۷By night, thy silent signal lamps to swing.
18. ۱۸
19. ۱۹Fierce-throated beauty!
20. ۲۰Roll through my chant, with all thy lawless music! thy swinging lamps at night;
21. ۲۱Thy piercing, madly-whistled laughter! thy echoes, rumbling like an earthquake, rousing
22. ۲۲ all!
23. ۲۳Law of thyself complete, thine own track firmly holding;
24. ۲۴(No sweetness debonair of tearful harp or glib piano thine,)
25. ۲۵Thy trills of shrieks by rocks and hills return’d,
26. ۲۶Launch’d o’er the prairies wide—across the lakes,
27. ۲۷To the free skies, unpent, and glad, and strong.