Train as a metaphor for life?

Question

I need a text/book/lyrics of a song/poem (anything literary) that uses a "train" as a metephor for life... you know, like a train life is a journey, where you meet new people all the time and where you say goodbye to others, because their journey/train takes them somewhere else, or because they have reached their destination (death?).. what writer used this?? PLEASE help, I need it for an essay!!

And please give me details, so that I can quote it!!
THANKS THANKS

Answer 1

Check out the poem The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin. A journey through England to London by train and how the journey and the newly married couples and their families that get on at each station become a metaphor for change and renewal. My favourite ever poem.

Answer 2

Train Metaphors

Answer 3

How about 'Travellin' in Style', by Free? They talk about the train being the easy stage, a better option for the blues man that being on foot. 'Train I ride is leavin' the station/ well the train I ride to my destination.' and 'Got no need for no company/ got my blues guitar, that's all I need'. I suppose you could say for them, getting on the train was a bit like salvation?

Then Hendrix's 'Hear My Train a-comin' pops into mind. Again, the train is an escape route- ' Waiting 'round a train station, waitin' for this train, to take me away from this lonesome town. Too bad you don't love me no more, little girl. Too bad your people put me down.' At the same time, for him it seemed like a route to success as well... 'Gonna leave this town, gonna be a Voodoo Child, gonna be a magic boy... come back and buy this town, and put it all in my shoe, that's what I'm gonna do. If you make love to me one more time, I might even give a piece to you, Hear my train a-comin' Perhaps this 'route to power' could be compared to the power of the train, the destination engine being a kind of destiny figure too?

For others, the station itself is inspiring. In Walsh's 'At The Station', the artist describes his feelings before the journey begins. 'I was standing at the station down at the end of the line, feeling mad just a little impatient, and I wish that you would make up my mind- yes I was out there on the platform, payphone keeps eating my dimes, and I still don't have an answer and the train's leaving right on time.' Though he wants to hesitate, perhaps get a little more information or comfort, the timetable is moving on with unstoppable force. Will he be able to catch the train, or will he be left where he was? Here, there's definitely the feeling of life being a journey, but it's tempered with a sense that there's an option to stay behind, even if that option may not be the most preferable- how can we choose if things are not clear?

The works described above are just three examples about trains from the rock canon... I'm sure that you will find more, and ones which relate to you more personally. Something which I would call your attention to when comparing songs with poetry is the role of music/text interaction. 'Hear my train a comin' has a rhythmic, bulldozing electric blues guitar effect, underlining the
motion of the train itself and its inevitable progress. With at the station, it's a more upbeat guitar effect, and cantering drums, suggesting not just the train, but also the heart of the prospective partner. In 'Travellin' in Style', the guitar is a more classic, acoustic blues effort, recalling the grifters and tramps of the American railroad era, and a carefree spirit. Sound/meaning interaction is nothing new of course- Who can forget the steady tempo of the poem which begins 'This is the mail train crossing the border/ bringing the cheque and the postal order',

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'Travellin' In Style', from the album 'Heartbreaker', by Free
'Hear My Train A-Comin', version discussed above from the compilation album 'Midnight Lightnin', by Jimi Hendrix
'At The Station', from '....But Seriously Folks', by Joe Walsh

I'd suggest you look at the whole texts, and try to get a listen to the music itself too. With an intensive stint of comparing and contrasting, that stuff could make up the whole essay, or at least a sizable chunk ;) If you decide to use these guys, let me know how it turns out.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Train as a metaphor for life?
I need a text/book/lyrics of a song/poem (anything literary) that uses a "train" as a metephor for life... you know, like a train life is a journey, where you meet new people all the time and where you say goodbye to others, because their journey/train takes them somewhere else, or...

Answer 5

Berlin provides an eclectic mixture of new and traditional structure, powerful amusement, shopping, and a wide selection of sports and social institutions and if you wish to see it then that hotelbye is the place to start. Some of the things you will see listed here are: the Old Museum, the National Gallery, the Bode Museum, Old National Gallery or, the symbol of Germany, the Berlin Wall. That wall started his life in 1961 when East Germany closed down the western part of the town to stem the flood of refugees from east to west. By the time it absolutely was divided down in 1989, the 4 meter large wall and 155 kilometres extended, dissected 55 streets, and possessed 293 statement towers and 57 bunkers. Nowadays, just small stretches of the graffiti-covered travesty remain, including a 1.4-kilometer stretch maintained as part of the Berlin Wall Memorial, a cooling reminder of the animosity that when split Europe.

Answer 6

I think a train going into a tunnel is a metaphor for something else.

Answer 7

Life is like a train ride, it read. We get on. We ride. We get off. We get back on and ride some more. There are accidents and there are delays. At certain stops there are surprises. Some of these will translate into great moments of joy, some will result in profound sorrow.

When we are born and we first board the train, we meet people whom we think will be with us for the entire journey. Those people are our parents! Sadly, this is far from the truth.

Our parents are with us for as long as we absolutely need them. They too have journeys they must complete. We live on with the memories of their love, affection, friendship, guidance and their ever presence.

There are others who board the train and who eventually become very important to us, in turn.
These people are our brothers, sisters, friends and acquaintances, whom we will learn to love, and cherish.

Some people consider their journey like a jaunty tour. They will just go merrily along. Others, will encounter many upsets, tears, losses on their journey.

Others still, will linger on to offer a helping hand to anyone in need. Some people on the train will leave an everlasting impression when they get off….

Some will get on and get off the train so quickly, they will scarsely leave a sign that they ever travelled along with you or ever crossed your path…

We will sometimes be upset that some passengers whom we love, will choose to sit in another compartment and leave us to travel on our own.

Then again, there’s nothing that says we can’t seek them out anyway.

Nevertheless, once sought out and found, we may not even be able to sit next to them because that seat will already be taken. That’s okay …everyone’s journey will be filled with hopes, dreams, challenges, setbacks and goodbyes.

We must strive to make the best of it… no matter what...
We must constantly strive to understand our travel companions and look for the best in everyone.

Remember that at any moment during our journey, any one of our travel companions can have a weak moment and be in need of our help. We too may vacilate or hesitate, even trip… hopefully we can count on someone being there to be supportive and understanding… The bigger mystery of our journey is that we don’t know when our last stop will come.

Neither do we know when our travel companions will make their last stop.

Not even those sitting in the seat next to us. Personally, I know I’ll be sad to make my final stop…. I’m sure of it!

My separation from all those friends and acquaintances I made during the train ride will be painful. Leaving all those I’m close to will be a sad thing. But then again, I’m certain that one day I’ll get to the main station only to meet up with everone else. They’ll all be carrying their baggage… most of which they didn’t have when they first got on this train.

I’ll be glad to see them again. I’ll also be glad to have contributed to their baggage… and to have enriched their lives, just as much as they will have contributed to my baggage and enriched my life.

We’re all on this train ride together. Above all, we should all try to strive to make the ride as pleasant and memorable as we can, right up until we each make the final stop and leave the train for the last time.

All aboard!
Safe journey!!
BON VOYAGE!

Answer 8

Adlestrop

Yes, I remember Adlestrop --
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Edward Thomas

Answer 9

How about bus stops as a metaphor for life?

Answer 10

How about the song 'Zoo Station' by U2 (written/inspired by their stay in Berlin just after the Wall came down)? The title comes from one of the stops on the Berlin U2 metro line (Bahnhof Zoo). Random line:

"Time is a train
Makes the future the past,
Leaves you standing in the station,
Your face pressed up against the glass"

Obvious, but it's Bono, so he's allowed!

In the book 'The Bridge' by Iain (M.) Banks, the protagonist is put into a coma by a severe car accident, and finds himself on a seemingly endless railway bridge. Travelling along it forces him to come to terms with the mistakes he made in life prior to the accident, redeeming him and allowing him to find his way back to the real world and wake up (although he—and the reader—doesn't immediately realise it)