Have you ever seen a steam train?

What do they sound like?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4BWn7_zDR0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVgQflnioa8

Today we are going to read a poem by a man called Robert Louis Stevenson called ‘From a Railway Carriage’.

The poem was written in 1885 and describes a journey on a steam train.

As I read it, I would like you to think about the rhythm of the poem (does it remind you of anything).

Also, keep an eye out for any interesting features (like the ones we found in The Tygerpoem).

Can you spot any figurative language? Simile? Metaphor? Personification? Alliteration?

Simile – describes something by comparing it to something else. We often use the words likeor as when creating a simile.

Metaphor – We describe something by saying it IS something else.

Alliteration– Words with the same sound which are used repeatedly.

Personification– When we give animals or objects human qualities or abilities. We say they ‘do the verbs’ that humans usually do.

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

And charging along like troops in a battle

All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And here is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart runaway in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill, and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone forever!

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

And charging along like troops in a battle

All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And here is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart runaway in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill, and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone forever!

Did you like the poem?

Did you notice anything interesting about the rhythm? How does it remind you of a steam train?

The poem uses rhyming couplets.This is when we have two lines which come straight after each other which rhyme. The lines are usually the same length.

Can you find any rhyming couplets?

Can you find any verbs in the poem which tell us that the train is moving quickly?

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

And charging along like troops in a battle

All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And here is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart runaway in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill, and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone forever!

Figurative language is used a lot in poems.It is used to create vivid images in the reader’s mind (like in ‘The Tyger’).

Can you find an example of a simile?

Can you find an example of a metaphor?

Can you find an example of alliteration?

Can you find an example of personification?

Use what we have discussed today to answer the questions about the poem.

Also try to write down at least one example of alliteration, simile, metaphor and personification you can find in the poem if you can.