Dawn

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

With a night's foetor.  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

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.

From the train between Bologna and Milan, second class.