"The Railway Station" by Archibald Lampman

Montreal West train station, 1950s

 

The darkness brings no quiet here, the light

    No waking: ever on my blinded brain

    The flare of lights, the rush, and cry, and strain,

The engines' scream, the hiss and thunder smite:

I see the hurrying crowds, the clasp, the flight,

    Faces that touch, eyes that are dim with pain:

    I see the hoarse wheels turn, and the great train

Move labouring out into the bourneless night.

So many souls within its dim recesses,

    So many bright, so many mournful eyes:

Mine eyes that watch grow fixed with dreams and guesses;

    What threads of life, what hidden histories,

What sweet or passionate dreams and dark distresses,

    What unknown thoughts, what various agonies!