The 1:20 Service from Edinburgh to Leeds

Edward Hopper - Compartment C Car 293 (1938)

On the 1:20 service from Edinburgh station,

Through Newcastle, Sheffield, and Leeds;

Delayed on approach for 10 minutes at Preston,

And a further 3 minutes by me.

As I boarded the carriage with courage and luggage,

And sat down in seat 24B,

My heart took a leap as you glanced at my seat,

Then sat across the aisle from me.

What beauty and wonder in futures I ponder,

Clandestinely await you and me;

I sought your eye as you stared at the sky,

and listlessly appraised the sea.

When looking right to admire the sights,

You surreptitiously caught my gaze;

I snapped down to my book and dared not to look,

In case you thought me crazed.

O, girl of no name, with one destination,

How perfectly preserved you are,

With dusty sun-light on soft hair and dark tights,

As distant from me as the stars.

And when the train pulled into Newcastle,

As you began to ready your things,

I wept in despair at the sight of your hair,

which I shall never now see up in rings.

Call off the engagement! Illicit romance,

Return the children to sender;

Undo the kisses we shared in our home,

Refund the aga and blender!

For what can you say to a girl in a way

That conveys one's most desperate thoughts,

Without being arrested, imprisoned, molested,

And strung up by court after court?

So as you rose to leave my life, 
My eyes alone perceived my strife,

I begged for one last requiting glance;

And as you buckled your coat,

Fate clutched at my throat,

And our eyes met by sweet, heavenly chance.

I shall miss you, my love, of an hour and a half,

Who departed, Newcastle at three,

On the 1:20 service from Edinburgh station,

Who sat across the aisle from me.

Though perhaps not as much, for fate twists as such,

And a heart is too quick to betray,

As the girl who got on, after you'd gone,

And sat down in seat 24A.