Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Here you will find the Poem Antwerp To Ghent of poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Antwerp To Ghent

We are upon the Scheldt. We know we move 
Because there is a floating at our eyes 
Whatso they seek; and because all the things 
Which on our outset were distinct and large 
Are smaller and much weaker and quite grey, 
And at last gone from us. No motion else. 
We are upon the road. The thin swift moon 
Runs with the running clouds that are the sky, 
And with the running water runs?at whiles 
Weak 'neath the film and heavy growth of reeds. 
The country swims with motion. Time itself 
Is consciously beside us, and perceived. 
Our speed is such the sparks our engine leaves 
Are burning after the whole train has passed. 
The darkness is a tumult. We tear on, 
The roll behind us and the cry before, 
Constantly, in a lull of intense speed 
And thunder. Any other sound is known 
Merely by sight. The shrubs, the trees your eye 
Scans for their growth, are far along in haze. 
The sky has lost its clouds, and lies away 
Oppressively at calm: the moon has failed: 
Our speed has set the wind against us. Now 
Our engine's heat is fiercer, and flings up 
Great glares alongside. Wind and steam and speed 
And clamour and the night. We are in Ghent.