“After the first powerful plain manifesto
The black statement of pistons, without more fuss
But gliding like a queen, she leaves the station.”

—  Stephen Spender

"The Express" (l. 1–3) in Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (1988) edited by Richard Ellmann and Robert O’Clair

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Stephen Spender photo
Stephen Spender 76
English poet and man of letters 1909–1995

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