| Rupert Brooke (1887–1915). Collected Poems. 1916. |
| |
| I. 1905–1908 |
| 14. Dawn |
| |
(From the train between Bologna and Milan, second class.)
OPPOSITE me two Germans snore and sweat. | |
| Through sullen swirling gloom we jolt and roar. | |
| We have been here for ever: even yet | |
| A dim watch tells two hours, two aeons, more. | |
| The windows are tight-shut and slimy-wet | 5 |
| With a night’s fœtor. There are two hours more; | |
| Two hours to dawn and Milan; two hours yet. | |
| Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore.… | |
| |
| One of them wakes, and spits, and sleeps again. | |
| The darkness shivers. A wan light through the rain | 10 |
| Strikes on our faces, drawn and white. Somewhere | |
| A new day sprawls; and, inside, the foul air | |
| Is chill, and damp, and fouler than before.… | |
| Opposite me two Germans sweat and snore. | |
|
|
