Poem by James Weldon Johnson

The Word of an Engineer

    "She's built of steel
    From deck to keel,
    And bolted strong and tight;
    In scorn she'll sail
    The fiercest gale,
    And pierce the darkest night.

    "The builder's art
    Has proved each part
    Throughout her breadth and length;
    Deep in the hulk,
    Of her mighty bulk,
    Ten thousand Titans' strength."

    The tempest howls,
    The Ice Wolf prowls,
    The winds they shift and veer,
    But calm I sleep,
    And faith I keep
    In the word of an engineer.

    Along the trail
    Of the slender rail
    The train, like a nightmare, flies
    And dashes on
    Through the black-mouthed yawn
    Where the cavernous tunnel lies.

    Over the ridge,
    Across the bridge,
    Swung twixt the sky and hell,
    On an iron thread
    Spun from the head
    Of the man in a draughtsman's cell.

    And so we ride
    Over land and tide,
    Without a thought of fear--
    _Man never had
    The faith in God
    That he has in an engineer!

1. A Plantation Bacchanal
2. Brer Rabbit, You's de Cutes' of 'Em All
3. The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face
4. Tunk
5. You's Sweet to Yo' Mammy Jes de Same

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