I like to see it lap the Miles - Emily Dickinson
Following the Swift Iron Horse
I like to see it lap the Miles –
And lick the Valleys up –
And stop to feed itself at Tanks –
And then – prodigious step
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
Complaining all the while
In horrid – hooting stanza –
Then chase itself down Hill –
And neigh like Boanerges –
Then – prompter than a Star –
Stop – docile and omnipotent –
At its own stable door –
Emily Dickinson’s poem “I like to see it lap the Miles” offers a whimsical yet vivid portrayal of a train moving across the landscape. Though never explicitly named, the train becomes a creature in the poet’s imagination—an energetic being that ‘laps’ miles, ‘licks’ valleys, and ‘feeds’ at water tanks. By applying living, almost animalistic verbs, Dickinson blurs the line between nature and machine.
She frames the train as an unstoppable presence that traverses mountains and valleys, breezes past humble shanties, and even navigates quarries. The poet’s choice of words such as ‘complaining’ and ‘neigh’ reflects her fascination with the train’s dynamic sounds—whistles, clicks, and chugs—which she likens to the noises of a spirited beast.
Beyond the playful metaphors, the poem subtly captures the era’s sentiments toward industrial progress. Trains were relatively new and transformative during Dickinson’s lifetime, revolutionizing how people perceived distance and travel. The poem’s final lines—‘Stop – docile and omnipotent – / At its own stable door –’—underline the train’s paradoxical qualities: it is both grandly powerful and predictably obedient once it halts.
In just a few lines, Dickinson invites readers to see industrial technology from a creative angle. Rather than criticizing the train’s artificial nature, she embraces its energy, marveling at how it reshapes the landscape while simultaneously coexisting with it. This lighthearted, imaginative perspective encourages us to notice that even modern machines hold a certain poetry in their function and form, hinting that wonder can arise from unexpected sources in the world around us.
Key points
• Dickinson uses lively, animal-like imagery to describe a train.
• The poem highlights both awe and acceptance of technological progress.
• Industrial changes can be interpreted in natural, even playful terms.
• The train’s power mirrors humanity’s expanding reach, blended with the poet’s creative vision.
