Old Engine Driver

 For five and twenty years I've run
 A famous train;
But now my spell of speed is done,
 No more I'll strain
My sight along the treadless tracks,
 The gleamy rails:
My hand upon the throttle slacks,
 My vision fails.

No more I'll urge my steed of steel
 Through hostile nights;
No more the mastery I'll feel
 Of monster might.
I'll miss the hiss of giant steam,
 The clank, the roar;
The agony of brakes that scream
 I'll hear no more.

Oh I have held within my hand
 A million lives;
And now my son takes command
 And proudly drives;
While from my cottage wistfully
 I watch his train,
And wave and wave and seem to see
 Myself again.

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