Summary of the poem "From a Railway Carriage"

E-learning Material on the Poem “From a Railway Carriage” by R L Stevenson

Introduction

Travelling experiences are a source of great happiness for children. In our childhood days, we all had a fascination towards travelling in train because of its length, the sound produced by the mechanical movement of the wheels, the loud horn etc. Here, in this poem “From a Railway Carriage” by R L Stevenson, the poet describes his thrilling journey in a train and about those sights that he saw then.

Objectives

            By learning this poem you will be able to:

                        ⁎ Understand the theme of the poem.

                        ⁎ Identify the poetic devices used in the poem.

                        ⁎ Improve your observation skills.

About the Poet

            Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish writer. He was born in Edinburgh as the son to Thomas Stevenson and Margaret Isabella. He had literary interests even in childhood so that he used to write stories inspite of his several diseases. In 1880, he married Fanny Osbourne. He died on December 3, 1894, when he was just forty years old. He is well known for his evergreen works like Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Title of the poem

            The title “From a Railway Carriage” captures the essence of the poem, as it is a record of the poet’s journey in a train. The poem communicates the poet’s observations and thoughts as he was sitting in a railway carriage.

Source of the poem

            “From a Railway Carriage” was published in R. L Stevenson’s volume of poetry for children, A Child’s Garden of Verses.

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 the daisies

Here is a cart runaway in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill, and there is river;

Each a glimpse and gone forever.

Summary of the poem

            The poet describes the sights that he notices while travelling in the train. The train is moving faster than fairies and witches. The train rushes forward like soldiers who are attacking their enemies in the battlefield. The speedy movement of the train leaves behind bridges, houses, fences and ditches behind. It also leaves behind the green fields where horses and cattles are grazing.

            Stevenson says that all the scenes of the hill and plain were being crossed by the train as quick as one drop of rain following the other in a storm. In the next moment, the train passes railway stations and it looked like painted pictures. The poet sees a child climbing a steep ground and collecting berries during climbing. He also sees a homeless person who looks at the train with amazement. As the train moves forward, he sees some ladies in a common village grassy land making garlands with daisy flowers.

            The poet then sees a cart moving slowly in the highway. It was full of load and the cart driver was sitting on the top of the load. He also gets a glimpse of a mill and a river by its side. All these objects appeared and disappeared so quickly.

            ⁎Let us see a video presentation of the poem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=466cF1d5V_Q&t=7!

Themes of the Poem

          The joy that we get from travelling is the major theme of the poem. Also beauty of nature comes as a theme in the descriptions like “meadows”, “the horses and cattle”, “sights of the hill and the plain” etc. The poverty of human beings too is a theme, as suggested by the scene in which a tramp looks excitedly at the train.

Poetic devices used in this work

* The rhythm of this poem echoes the rhythm of a train with the poem following a stressed followed by unstressed pattern.

* Poem is written in rhyming couplets. Eg: witches/ ditches, battle/ cattle etc etc.

* Similie- a figure of speech that directly compares two different things using words such as like or as. Eg: “like troops in a battle”, “fly as thick as driving rain” etc.

*Alliteration- a literary device in which a series of words begin with the same consonant sound. Eg: “faster than fairies”, “houses, hedges” etc

* Assonance- a literary device used to refer to the repetition of a vowel sound.

Eg: “All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain.”

Conclusion

“From a Railway Carriage” by R L Stevenson presents a series of realistic images, that enable the reader to experience the feel of travelling in a train.

Glossary

⁎Hedges- row of bushes that look like fences.

⁎Ditches- a long narrow furrow to enable water flow.

⁎Charging- to rush forward.

⁎Troops- soldiers.

⁎Clambers- climb or move in an awkward way.

⁎Brambles- a prickly shrub with berries.

⁎Stringing- joining.

⁎Lumping- carrying with difficulty.

⁎Tramp- beggar or a person who wanders.

⁎Gaze- look.

Exercises

1.     Which are the images that we can construct in mind on reading this poem?

The poem presents a series of lifelike images such as a speedy train moving in the midst of meadows, hills, river etc.

2.     Can we compare the speedy movement of the train with the passage of time?

Some lines from the poem suggest the transcience of life such as “Each a glimpse and gone forever.”

3.     What are the expressions used by the poet to show the amazing speed of the train?

There are several expressions used in the poem to indicate the fast movement of the train such as “faster than fairies”, “faster than witches”, “charging along like troops”, “fly as thick as driving rain”, “each a glimpse and gone forever” etc.

4.     What is the poem about?

The poem is about a fast moving train and the people, places and things seen from it.

5.     What is the aim of the poet while writing this poem?

To entertain readers with an exciting description of a train ride.

6.     Does the train move through a village or a city? Justify your answer.

The train moves in a village  like setting as evident in expressions like “sights of the hill and the plain”, “all through the meadows” etc.

References

⁎https: /// www.famous authors.org> robert- louis- stevenson

⁎https:// www.youtube.com/ Larry Sanger.

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