Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FLAGMEN, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FLAGMEN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Drear, lonely men beside the ringing track
Last Line: To be for all one's life a danger sign!
Subject(s): Railroads; Railways; Trains


Drear, lonely men beside the ringing track!
Slow-moving men, with crippled feet and back,
One-armed, one-legged, battered many ways,
Doomed to monotonous and tiresome days, --
The tinkle-tinkle of the falling bars,
The waving flag, the swirl of thundering cars,
Then tinkle-tinkle, teams and hurrying men,
A moment's rest, and -- just the same again.
Not from their grudging lips, reserved and grim,
But from the stiffened form, the mangled limb,
Through all the sombre, pitiable year
The same unworded warning you may hear:
"These cruel rails have made me what you see!
Those coming wheels have crushed and crippled me!"
The tinkle-tinkle -- "Look, and have a care!"
The waving flag -- "Behold me, and beware!"
O gloomy fate! -- and may it ne'er be mine, --
To be for all one's life a danger sign!





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