Underneath the Bough
A Book of Verses
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
THE START
THE appointed time at length the dials show.
“Attention, both!... Now, are you ready?... Go!!”
The chauffeur grips his lever with a hand
Of steel.—A leap!—A flash of wheels! A grand
And supple beast-like spring!—A growl of gear!
As, sweeping through the multitudinous sea
Of men upraising full-voiced cheer on cheer,
He whirls away to promised victory!...
ON THE ROAD
The high road stretches straight and white
Away
To dreamy distance, on and on—
The day
Dawns sharp and foggy; nips the driver’s
Nose,
Despite his costly furs. Zounds! How
It blows!
The motor purrs!—Our mobile seems
To fly,
[Pg 2]
Nor touch the ground... (Pneumatic
Mystery!)
The motor purrs!—Farewell wood, field
And stream!
Once on the road, we’ve scanty time
To dream!
The motor purrs!—Look out! A sheer
Decline.
Temptation whispers: Faster here!
It’s fine!
Faster? It’s madness! Yes, I know!—
But on!
Full speed down hill! Another record
Gone!...
The driver plunges out of view...
See, there
He climbs the distant slope again.
I swear
He’d scale Olympus! Yet that course
Is clear
From many mishaps that beset
Us here!
We crush a curséd mongrel in
The dust!
[Pg 3]
Slow down to miss an English spinster,
Just
Graze by her on her clumsy, ancient
Wheel!—
Rout ducks and chickens, set the pigs
A-squeal!
It’s not our fault! We can’t be kept
All day
To clear the road!... Speed on!—Away!
Away!...
THE STRUGGLE
But hark!... Behind, a trumpet-blast winds clear!
Great God! Our dread competitor draws near;
We’d half a minute start, and now, like Fate,
He’s rushing onward to annihilate
Distance and time, whirled in a hurricane!
Inexorably we see him gain and gain....
“Now!—speed her up!” the boy cries out. “More speed!”
“The curséd motor’s gone to sleep!—Indeed,
“We’re hardly doing fifty miles an hour.
“But he won’t pass us yet awhile! More power!”...
[Pg 4]
The driver heeds; he moves—the furious pace
Grows frenzied! Oh, the glory of a race
Like this of modern days, with steady hand
To steer a whirlwind through a startled land!
