Men formed this many-branched electrolier,
Twisted the flex around the iron rope
And let the dazzling vacuum globes hang clear,
And then with hearts the rich contrivance fill'd
Of copper, beaten by the Bromsgrove Guild.
Early Electric! Sit you down and see,
'Mid this fine woodwork and a smell of dinner,
A stained-glass windmill and a pot of tea,
And sepia views of leafy lanes in PINNER, -
Then visualize, far down the shining lines,
Your parents' homestead set in murmuring pines.
Smoothly from HARROW, passing PRESTON ROAD,
They saw the last green fields and misty sky,
At NEASDEN watched a workmans train unload,
And, with the morning villas sliding by,
They felt so sure on their electric trip
That Youth and Progress were in partnership.
The Metropolitan Railway - Baker Street Station Buffet [fragment]
uit: Collected poems - John Betjeman
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