Poem: The Railway Train

by Emily Dickinson

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties, by the sides of roads;
And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop--docile and omnipotent--
At its own stable door.

Answer the following questions:

1.) What Sounds (rhyme, meter, alliteration, assonance, etc.) does she use in the poem?

2.) What Imagery does she use in this poem?

3.) What is the theme of this poem?

4.) What type of symbolism does she use in this poem?

5.) What type of speaker does she use in this poem?

6.) What type of actions does she use in this poem?

Indeed, the symbolism the author uses for this poem is that of a domesticated animal, more specifically a horse. It is no coincidence that Native Americans called trains “the iron horse”. The train is described in very equine terms: “to lap the miles, to lick the valleys up, to feed itself on tanks (like a hose that drinks from a trough), and stopping at its own stable door”.

A horse is an animal from nature and a train is not, it is a pure human invention. However, Dickinson juxtaposes very oxymoronic concepts by referring to it as a horse. Since nature and technology are juxtaposed in this manner, it can be inferred that for the author, a train, which represents technological progress, is the new natural state of humanity.