father and I

• Father


  The narrator's father
• Sunday afternoon walk


  1. Set off briskly

  2. Walked along the railway line

  3. Entered the woods

  4. Came to a field of oats

  5. Crossed the bridge over the stream

  6. Reached the river

  7. Headed back home
• Sounds in the woods

  • Twittering of finches and willow warblers
  • Thrushes and sparrows in the bushes
  • Hum of insects
• The ground was white with wood anemones, the birches had just come into leaf, and the spruces had fresh shoots
• A train came rushing along and they had to go down on to the embankment
• Father hailed the engine driver

  The driver saluted and extended his hand
• The sleepers sweated tar in the heat, everything smelled, grease and meadowsweet, tar and heather by turns
• The rails glinted in the sun
• The telegraph poles sang as you passed them
• The crofter's oat field had come up close and even
• The stream was in full spate
• They called in to see the platelayer's cottage, were offered milk, and saw their pig and hens and fruit trees in blossom
• The river murmured in the hot sun, broad and friendly
• The shady trees hung along the banks and were reflected in the backwater
• A soft breeze was blowing off the small lakes higher up
• Father had sat on the stones as a boy waiting for perch all day long
• They made a noise, pushed out bits of bark, and threw pebbles into the water
• The woods were changed - it wasn't dark there yet, but almost
• Under one of the trees was a glowing worm
• The stream roared down in the depths, horribly, as though it wanted to swallow them up
• The embankment sloped steeply down, as though into chasms black as night
• The telegraph poles rose, ghostly, to the sky, and there was a hollow rumble inside them, as though someone were talking deep down in the earth
• The narrator was afraid of the darkness


  Father said it wasn't horrible, because they knew there was a God
• A mighty roar was suddenly heard behind them, and a black train tore past, with the fire blazing in the huge engine and the driver pale and motionless
• The train was swallowed up by the night
• The narrator sensed that the train represented the anguish and unknown that was to come, which Father couldn't protect him against


  The narrator felt that this world and life were not real, but just hurtled, blazing, into the darkness that had no end