Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THOUGHTS AT RAILWAY STATION, by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THOUGHTS AT RAILWAY STATION, by                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis but a box, of modest deal
Last Line: They stare!
Subject(s): Packages


'TIS but a box, of modest deal;
Directed to no matter where:
Yet down my cheek the teardrops steal --
Yet, I am blubbering like a seal;
For on it is this mute appeal,
"With care."

I am a stern cold man, and range
Apart: but those vague words "With care"
Wake yearnings in me sweet as strange:
Drawn from my moral Moated Grange,
I feel I rather like the change
Of air.

Hast thou ne'er seen rough pointsmen spy
Some simple English phrase -- "With care"
Or "This side uppermost" -- and cry
Like children? No? No more have I.
Yet deem not him whose eyes are dry
A bear.

But ah! what treasure hides beneath
That lid so much the worse for wear?
A ring perhaps -- a rosy wreath --
A photograph by Vernon Heath --
Some matron's temporary teeth
Or hair!

Perhaps some seaman, in Peru
Or Ind, hath stow'd herein a rare
Cargo of birds' eggs for his Sue;
With many a vow that he'll be true,
And many a hint that she is too,
Too fair.

Perhaps -- but wherefore vainly pry
Into the page that's folded there?
I shall be better by and by:
The porters, as I sit and sigh,
Pass and repass -- I wonder why
They stare!





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