Page:The Seven Seas (Kipling, 1896).djvu/53

 M'ANDREW'S HYMN

, Thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream,

An', taught by time, I tak' it so—exceptin' always Steam.

From coupler-flange to spindle-guide I see Thy Hand, O God—

Predestination in the stride o' yon connectin'-rod.

John Calvin might ha' forged the same—enorrmous, certain, slow—

Ay, wrought it in the furnace-flame—my 'Institutio.'

I cannot get my sleep to-night; old bones are hard to please;

I'll stand the middle watch up here—alone wi' God an' these

My engines, after ninety days o' race an' rack an' strain

Through all the seas of all Thy world, slam-bangin' home again.