Night Journey<\/b><\/p>\n
is a lovely poem by Theodore Roethke. I was introduced to the poem by my 2nd son, N, who was assigned to memorize it for school. Here it is:<\/p>\n
Night Journey<\/i><\/p>\n
Now as the train bears west,
\nIts rhythm rocks the earth,
\nAnd from my Pullman berth
\nI stare into the night
\nWhile others take their rest.
\nBridges of iron lace,
\nA suddenness of trees,
\nA lap of mountain mist
\nAll cross my line of sight,
\nThen a bleak wasted place,
\nAnd a lake below my knees.
\nFull on my neck I feel
\nThe straining at a curve;
\nMy muscles move with steel,
\nI wake in every nerve.
\nI watch a beacon swing
\nFrom dark to blazing bright;
\nWe thunder through ravines
\nAnd gullies washed with light.
\nBeyond the mountain pass
\nMist deepens on the pane;
\nWe rush into a rain
\nThat rattles double glass.
\nWheels shake the roadbed stone,
\nThe pistons jerk and shove,
\nI stay up half the night
\nTo see the land I love.<\/p>\n
Here’s my boy reciting it last night at the Spring Expo at his school. I’m so proud of him.<\/p>\n