Old Engine Driver

Read 'Old Engine Driver' by 'Robert William Service' and provide your summary and literary analysis in the comments section below.

Old Engine Driver by Robert William Service

 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.

Form: Lyric Comments

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