Wayside Ambition Poem by George Ade

Wayside Ambition



I want to be a brakeman,
Dog gone!
Legs hangin' over the edge of a flat car,
Train goin' 'bout twenty-five miles 'n hour,
Kickin' the dog-fennel 'long the track —
That's what a brakeman does.

I want to be a brakeman,
I jing!
Makin' the boys git off the platform,
Cussin' the drayman if the skids is lost.
Hollers, ' Back 'er a len'th,' and engineer has to —
That's a brakeman for ye!

No conductor for me, just a brakeman,
By hen!
Can make a couplin' on the dead run,
Has spring-bottom pants 'n' braid on his clothes,
Carries a lantern at night 'n' cap over his ears —
That's a brakeman, I'll tell ye!

I want to be a brakeman,
Geeminently!
Stand in with agents and op'rators,
Gits to Peru every night 'n' sees a show,
Knows the numbers of the trains, chaws tobacker —
He's a regular one, you bet!

'N' I want to be head brakeman,
Gol-lee!
Twistin' 'er hard, smoke rollin' 'round y'u,
Country people stoppin' work to look,
Girls wavin' at y'u all the way to Peru;
I'll be one, too, some day.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Susan Williams 06 December 2015

So many jobs look heroic and dripping with masculinity that even women are taken in by the attractiveness of the fireman and lineman and cowboy

27 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
George Ade

George Ade

the United States
Close
Error Success