Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ECHOES: 21 by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: WE FLASH ACROSS THE LEVEL
Last Line: AND LONG FOR A COMMON HANSOM.

We flash across the level.
We thunder thro' the bridges.
We bicker down the cuttings.
We sway along the ridges.

A rush of streaming hedges,
Of jostling lights and shadows,
Of hurtling, hurrying stations,
Of racing woods and meadows.

We charge the tunnels headlong --
The blackness roars and shatters.
We crash between embankments --
The open spins and scatters.

We shake off the miles like water,
We might carry a royal ransom;
And I think of her waiting, waiting,
And long for a common hansom.



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