Dedication
DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE CHAIRMAN AND DIRECTORS OF THE
GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY.
TO THE
CHAIRMAN AND DIRECTORS
OF THE
GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY,
THIS
Sonnet by Wordsworth, on Steam Boats, Viaducts, and Railways
Motions and means, on land and sea at war
With old poetic feeling; not for this,
Shall ye, by Poets even, be judged amiss!
Nor shall your presence, howsoe’er it mar
The loveliness of nature, prove a bar
To the mind’s gaining that prophetic sense
Of future change that point of vision, whence
May be discover’d what in soul ye are.
In spite of all that beauty may disown
In your harsh features, Nature doth embrace
Her lawful offspring in Man’s art; and Time,
Pleased with your triumphs o’er his brother Space,
Accepts from your bold hands the proffer’d crown
Of hope, and smiles on you with cheer sublime.