Metrical tales, and other poems; - Electric Scotland

144 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
To join the ceaseless harmonies
Which mount in tribute to the skies.
But those with eyes that cannot see,
And ears that cannot hear,
And souls which poets' minstrelsy
Can neither stir nor cheer.
To hide their own defective powers.
Must needs proclaim decay in ours.
The following is a reproduction, in verse, of the account of an actual
occurrence which took place on one of the Belgian railways, some years
ago. The Belgian Press unanimously lauded the conduct of the pointsman,
and the King awarded him an honorary medal.
OB,
THE POINTSMAN;
AFFECTION AND DUTY.
^HE pointsman stands by the railway side,
With a father's pride and joy,
) To gather the smiles and watch the sports
Of his handsome three-years' boy,
Who merrily plays between the rails,
Eeclined on the sunny ground.
With the flow'rets culled by his father's hand
From the flowering borders round.
The whistle screams in the pointsman's ear.
And following fast behind.
The rush of a sweeping train comes on
Like a mighty, rushing wind I
The rails in his charge are out of line.
What, what shall the pointsman do ?