Question

The Railway Train

Emily Dickinson

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

5 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,
10 Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill

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



A A very badly-written poemA very badly-written poem


B A song about the wonders of railroadsA song about the wonders of railroads


C The sounds coming from the train engineThe sounds coming from the train engine


D The sounds of animals

Answer 1

Emily Dickinson's "The Railway Train" is about the sounds made by a train engine, using animal-like imagery and personification to describe its motion and auditory presence. The correct answer is option C.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of Emily Dickinson's poem "The Railway Train" is C. The sounds coming from the train engine. Dickinson uses vivid imagery and personification to give the locomotive animal-like characteristics as it moves through the landscape. The poem compares the train's actions to that of an animal lapping, licking up valleys, and stepping around mountains, while also describing sounds it makes as it 'complains' and 'hoots' during its journey. The train's sounds are likened to the roar of Boanerges, a reference to the Biblical sons of thunder, emphasizing the power and noise of the train.

The poem captures the rhythm and movement of a train through its distinctive 'sounds'. This auditory imagery Dickinson uses is further connected to the earlier references of rhythm in poetry by Ezra Pound and the depiction of different rhythms in various poems to convey specific atmospheres and actions. The auditory experiences described in other works and the emphasis on the meaningfulness of rhythm both resonate with the sounds described in "The Railway Train".