From a Railway Carriage

Product Information

Robert Louis Stevenson is an incredibly famous writer, and learners are sure to come across his writing as they move through school. Because he’s most famous for his novels, poems like ‘From a Railway Carriage’ give us an idea of another side of the writer - he really was multi-talented! In the last two lines of the first stanza, the speaker informs readers that he has been riding before the narration has begun. Thus, the painted stations “again” slid past his carriage. Stevenson uses an auditory image of the whistling sound coming from the stations when the train crosses them. Stevenson employs visual and kinesthetic imagery in the first stanza. He visually depicts the scene that the speaker witnesses from his carriage. Through kinesthetic images, he describes the apparent motion of bridges, houses, hedges, etc. The last line of the first stanza, “Painted stations whistle by,” contains auditory imagery. This line refers to the whistle’s sound coming from the station when the train crosses it. The second stanza also contains similar imagery. As the train moves hurriedly, the speaker cannot hear the sound of others outside or hear the smell of daisies. He can only capture their acts when the train moves past them. Besides, Stevenson uses organic imagery in lines 12 and 16 to convey the speaker’s inner feelings of joy and wonder. The “mill” and “river” are compared to a “glimpse”. They are liked small clips of the motion picture seen from the railway carriage. Alliteration

This device is used in a number of instances; in the first stanza, there is a repetition of “and” throughout. Such repetition is also called polysyndeton. The recurrence of the conjunction signifies a sense of continuity. In the second stanza, Stevenson uses the word “Here” at the beginning of alternative lines until line 5. Rhetorical Exclamation Introduce your kids to another of Stevenson’s poems with our PowerPoint on ‘Windy Nights’, a poem that makes fantastic use of imagery and descriptive language to evoke the sound of the wind The repetition of a similar sound at the beginning of neighboring words is called alliteration. It is used to create internal rhyming. This device is used in the following instances:You’ve read his poetry, but what about the man himself? Our Robert Louis Stevenson Information Sheet provides the story of the great man’s life along with some surprising and fascinating facts Up-Hill” by Christina Rossetti — It’s one of the best-loved poems of Christina Rossetti that describes one speaker’s hesitations on the uphill journey of life. The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of consecutive lines is called anaphora. It occurs in:

According to the speaker, the train is not faster than them. Instead, the bridges, houses, hedges, and ditches, that move past his carriage showcase such swiftness. In the following line, he metaphorically describes the train as an army marching forward for a battle. The preparedness of the troops and their unhindered motion is comparable to that of the train. From the carriage, he can notice the horses and cattle grazing through the meadows.

From a railway carriage

Robert Louis Stevenson (13 November 1850 – 3 Dec 1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet and essayist. A celebrity in his lifetime, Stevenson's critical reputation has fluctuated since his death, though today his works are held in general acclaim. He is currently [ when?] ranked as the 26th most translated author in the world.