Thee for my recitative,
Thee in the driving storm even as now, the snow, the winter-day
declining,
Thee in thy panoply, thy measur'd dual throbbing and thy beat
convulsive,
The black cylindric body, golden brass and silvery steel,
The ponderous side-bars, parallel and connecting rods, gyrating, shuttling
at thy sides,
Thy metrical, now swelling pant and roar, now tapering in the distance,
Thy great protruding head-light fix'd in front,
Thy long, pale, floating vapor-pennants, tinged with delicate purple,
The dense and murky clouds out-belching from thy smoke-stack,
Thy knitted frame, thy springs and valves, the tremulous twinkle of
thy wheels,
Thy train of cars behind, obedient, merrily following,
Through gale or calm, now swift, now slack, yet steadily careering;
Type of the modern-emblem of motion and power--pulse of the continent,
For once come serve the Muse and merge in verse, even as here I see
thee,
With storm and buffeting gusts of wind and falling snow,
By day thy warning ringing bell to sound its notes,
By night thy silent signal lamps to swing.

Fierce-throated beauty!
Roll through my chant with all thy lawless music, thy swinging lamps at night,
Thy madly-whistled laughter, echoing, numbling like
an earthquake,
rousing all,
Law of thyself complete, thine own track firmly holding,
(No sweetness debonair of tearful harp or glib piano thine,)
Thy thrills of shrieks by rocks and hills return's,
Launch'd o'er the prairies wide, across the lakes,
To the free skies unpent and glad and strong.

Analysis # 1

A locomotive is similar to a manager.  Both locomotive and managers are dominant in that they pull subordinates (locomotives pull cargo; managers pull employees); both are responsible for intricate and complicated paths (locomotives are responsible for millions of tons; managers are
responsible for millions of dollars); both manage in rigid paths (trains have tracks; managers have company policies, laws, and regulations); both have fixed responsibilities (locomotives have commuters; managers have shareholders).

The manager, who narrates, declares the poem is “for my recitative,” meaning the purpose now for readers is to listen for rhetoric, much of which should deal with himself (“my” promises to be personal in nature; e.g., my house, my essay, my work).  The very fact that it is “my recitative” indicates that there are others who have a chance to argue, too (they may even be speaking simultaneously, which will cause readers or listeners to forget who is the source of this
rhetoric).
    The manager has a gripe about the progress of his company.  A driving storm, an “act by God,” or “human nature” is responsible for the regressive movement of his work. Since no one is in control of nature, blaming nature is losing control—it is to say that a force no one can control is responsible for this problem.  The manager refuses to blame people.  If he were to blame himself it would admit guilt. Blaming others causes bitter hatred and has severe
consequences that outweigh any positive effects. Nature is a wonderful scapegoat.
     Scapegoating nature is acceptable for a limited time.  Nature strikes back in strange ways.  The derogatory feelings toward nature causes him to jump into a primitive state, where he has to hide behind panoply (armor) in order to feel safe.  Nature is well aware of his attempt to escape punishment.  Nature proceeds to provide a double dosage of pain and suffering by “black cylindrical body.”  Blackness, the absence of light, creates enormous destruction; it removes the primary source of life, of happiness, of meaning.  Darkness is death; and to hate darkness is to hate death.  Death, pain, woe—all that is bad—simultaneously “connect” as one “rod.”  The rod
is a weapon; increased darkness will lead to a stronger rod, which can degrade the manager into nothing.  The manager has a precise method of fighting darkness; he will “pant and roar”—or wait and yell—until his screams are “in the distance.”   The screams are history.  Now he can
continue.
     The manager thrusts forward (protruding) in the darkness in search of light.  The manager indicates this is a “great” advancement because he feels he has taken such a magnificent advancement that he may defeat darkness.  “Great” may also mean he thinks this is some significant task for the greater good.  He is completely unaware that this battle is his alone.
     A great gift to the manager is the “fix’d” light in front.  Or so he thinks.  The light is a “front” for the darkness, for if the light fails to glow, the darkness will continue to pester the manager.  Darkness and light may form an agreement to create clouds that are dense, signifying stupidity.  Managers hate stupidity more than anything else because it makes progress more difficult and frustrating.  The “dense and murky clouds” are curses toward the manager’s employees in an attempt to take away their intelligence and darken their perception, thus, slowing them down.  Clouds are above and beyond human touch – just as the spell cast on his employees is incomprehensible and simply maddening in that it can not be controlled.  The manager vents his anger akin to a “smoke stack.”  He is burning up.  A smokestack burns away fuel the same way a person grows hot in temperament and perspires andreleases anger.
 The manager appears to have reduced a lot of anxiety from venting because he makes comments about very rigidly structured creations that are much like the world of managing, including:  “knitted frame” and “springs and valves.”  “Twinkle of thy wheels” signifies moving forward
rapidly.
    Finally the tables have turned on this dark sky!
 The train of cars are his employees; apparently, they are obedient and merrily following.  Few people are happy to be submissive and take orders so this is truly either a lie or is highly unlikely.  The manager truly is hiding something.  He speaks of the current milieu as “gale or calm,” which is somewhat of a false dichotomy.  He’s saying either the situation will be confused and destroyed by the darkness again or will be calmed by its absence.  Things never are this black and white, however.  He corrects this problem later by using the word Muse (which in lower case means ponder) to “merge” the extremes of black and white in his own situation (“even as here.”)
     “Buffeting gusts of wind” indicates something violent and terrible; his business is going down.  Gusts of wind are sudden and violent and are likely to cease after they have destroyed all that is good.  “Thy warning bell to sound its notes” appears to be a transition from sound, which
is an ambiguous form of symbolic expression, to notes, which are specific and are usually written.  This is rather remarkable to talk about chaos changing into cohesion at a time when things are turning for the worse.  (But there are times when this is true.  For instance, when there is a disaster, we initially panic; but being calm and specifying exactly what is wrong can fix the situation).  The bell also emphasizes transition in that bells are  “U” shaped and shows how he went from horrible luck, to moderate, and to fortunate luck; he made a “U”-turn in terms of luck.  But things change once again.
    “Swing” indicates a change—or a group that can influence (e.g., swing voters); the manager is the only person in power, so if anything is to be accomplished, he must do it.  In thenight, signifying that hateful darkness again, there is an object that can swing the environment into his
favor, and that is the lamp.  Lamps maybe a touch of good and evil for someone who holds disgust in darkness for the lamp has a shade that acts as a cover for the throat of the lamp.  The
manager acknowledges his hate for the unnecessary lampshade:

    “Fierce-throated beauty!”  A lot of the “fierce” light is directed to the throat of the lamp due to the lampshade.  Losing any light is bothersome to the manager who loves light and not darkness—and wants unidirectional light waves to reach him because it highlights and removes shadows (which are his secrets) from his personality. The manager wants more light because he is naturally interested in being dominant with his emotions to a “lawless” limit.  No one can regulate his activities. Remember, he may think, “I’m a manager—I am lawless; therefore, if I
have attention from a lamp, I have power.”  Music is his innermost feelings built up in a swirl of rhythms and hymns. Being in power, again, away from the darkness, can create
emotional outbursts.   The darkness is dead.
    “Swinging lamps at night,” is an image of the man holding in his arms this lamp that fights
darkness; he dances with it from joy of this absolute escape from his fear of the dark!  “Rousing” all is an important portion of waking his subordinates with the good news!  The darkness is gone!  No one responds to his request to get to work.  People who are ignored become desperate—“madly” involved in the “rumbling like an earthquake.”  He’s becoming childish and involving himself in obscure tantrums when he is expected to be professional and orderly!
Fortunately for the people who work for him and see him as a manager, he gets himself together.  “Law of thyself complete” is denial of his obnoxious activity said above.  He is essentially saying that although he was away from his natural inclinations to be serious, he is whole and
“complete” once again in accordance to law (which are the regulations and expectations of his place of business).
    The manager also wants to repent to God for his foolish daydreams and childish actions.  He sings a song to his deity in “shrieks” so that a God who is infinitely powerful can hear his finite repentance.  But singing in shrieks is not enough.  He walks to a hill where he will be closer to God who, being omniscient, is “o’er the prairies wide, across the lakes,” and is “glad and strong” to receive this repentance although nature, who has created this entire ordeal, shall
remain “unpent” because it is not human and therefore is not responsible for the destruction it causes.

Analysis # 2

Locomotives represent masculinity.  Standing at fifteen to twenty feet, locomotives are tall; carrying hundreds of thousands of tons, they are strong beyond comprehension; they do their job and they do it well.  A locomotive “in” winter suggests, however, that there are some negative
sides toward masculinity.  “In” conjoins locomotives and winter to such an extent that all the stereotypical views of masculinity must coexist with winter.  Winter is impersonal and cruel
toward all forms of life.  There is no joy, no happiness—no signs of life: only death, disgust, and sadness. Those who are (or wish to be) masculine must surrender all sense of personality, emotion, and warmth since they are trapped within an artificial winter that dictates how one must act.
    To be masculine (aggressive and tough), then, is to be “in” winter; and, to be in winter is to be in constant unhappiness. The “driving storm even as now” relates to the present view of masculinity.  “Driving” is society’s dogmatic message that men should be cold.  The storm is the aggressive and violent methods by which the current views of masculinity are reinforced through socialization. Those who challenge the clear black and white view of masculinity will find
people who adamantly oppose change and will use force, sometimes violence, to have their message received.  Storms destroy with intensity and irrationality in that there is no
justification for their violent outbursts.  The traditional masculine man will burst into violent outbursts when he is frustrated, confused, or in an argument with his wife.
     Some people are immune to society’s message.
Those who are inside a “panoply” are able to hide inside their turtle shell.  Society’s official position on masculinity is limited by distance; it cannot be received by those who “tune in and drop out” from the larger culture.  In unfortunate instances, the small culture is discovered by the larger culture, creating massive conflict.  The “dual” – the scene of the traditional vs. modern masculine men are faced with a dilemma: Should one side win while another loses?
 Both sides argue and lose.  Whitman describes this as “Golden brass and silvery steel,” which are cheap metals that appear expensive.  Add “gold” to the brass and its worth increases;
add silver to steel and people take a second look at themetal.
    Arguments typically work the same way.  Side X exalts their point of view by adding “propaganda”—which really is an attempt to cover up a bad argument.
     The arguments are over.  The time has come for both traditional and modernist to decide what is best for everyone.  “Roaring” is symbolic of lions; the traditionalists may say the roars are “tapering in the distance” away from their discussion, and in the animal kingdom. Traditionalists do not want to see the way they appear toward the modernists; to be aware is to understand what modernists have said long ago: traditional masculinity was useful when muscles were
what made a man, but now it is time to separate from the beasts of the jungle.
  “Protruding head-light fix’d in front.”  Protruding implies this idea will strike the oppressors as a quick resolution; however, this could be a bad antidote that simply is “fixed” compulsively in the mind (which may simply be a rigid and irrational thought that has no realistic chance of
being implemented or solving the tension in the real world).
    “Fixed” can also be an attempt to “sterilize” the mean-spirited intolerance of the beasts who attack the modernists.
 “The long, pale, floating vapor-pennants tinged with delicate purple,” paints the modernists as jellyfish.  Colloquially, a jellyfish is a “frugal” person; modernists are frugal because they do not back away from their position.  If the modernists “give in” to the traditionalists they will
relinquish the chance to be free of the ancient and rigid view toward masculinity.  Both modernists and traditionalists view their adversaries as frugal in that neither moves one step
forward toward the other side.
  “Thy knitted frame” represents the rigid situation where people are neck and neck and the modernists are out of ways to better themselves.  “Knitted” is placing something closely together, but, most importantly—humans do it.  Knitting is not done by nature.  Knitting is distinctively human.
    “Frame” is to enclose in a tight space.  We have knitting—which is the human process of placing things together—and the frame—which places this situation in perspective as fragile.
Any change can make or break the situation.  The “springs and valves” represent fleeing; “springs” represent jumping from one source to another while valves are “double doors”  which
allow for exit.  But valves could be used as a weapon.  If modernists use valves as weapons, they have become traditionalists in order to protect the modernist ideals.  The modernists are
aware of this dilemma and compensate for their barbaric act with a “tremulous twinkle of thy wheels.”  The modernists are tremulous because their position placed themselves in an uncomfortable position of using force (which they are adamantly opposed to) in order to win.  The twinkle is a sign that violence was used sparingly and in self-defense.
 The modernists think about what is left “behind.”
    Left behind include traditionalists who “merrily follow” much like “thy train of cars behind.”  The traditionalists are not near the masculinity of locomotives because traditionalists need
society to say what is (and what is not) masculine.  Modernists can be likened to locomotives because they define masculinity and ignore what society or the majority says; whereas the traditionalists seem to have this notion that society must “pull” them.  The modernists laugh
because they are locomotives (which are independent) while the traditionalists are train cars (which are dependent).  “Independent” and “dependent” are gender specific, too: independent (locomotives-modernists) is masculine whereas dependent (traincars-traditionalists) is feminine.
Whitman emphasizes this point:  “modern—the emblem of motion and power—pulse of the continent.”  The rest of the poem talks about peace and happiness that can coexist when humans are not under pressure to conform to the majority.  The “warning bell” once was used to alert
modernists to traditionalists’ presence.  The bell is used now to “sound its notes”—to create joy from sound rather than fear and escape.  While the bell no longer warns of enemy presence, it still arouses the physical body to a “fight or flight response” due to the association of the bell with traditionalists.  Modernists have had to listen to that bell ring and ring, implying, “The enemies are here!  The enemies are here!”  Now, after this civil war, it is impossible, frustrating, and difficult to relate this sound to joy or
peace.
     “Fierce-throated beauty!” describes the bell’s “fierce” qualities (warning of enemy presence) and “beautiful” (making sounds humans appreciate). The explanation mark shows the bell
objectively creates beautiful sounds but subjectively acts as a “warning ringing bell” that provokes fear and confusion among modernists. While the bell may possibly encourage laughter and emotion, it may also lead to depression and bad memories.

Roll through my chant with all thy lawless music, thy swinging lamps at night,
Thy madly-whistled laughter, echoing, numbling like
an earthquake,
rousing all,
Law of thyself complete, thine own track firmly holding,

Emotion is a major aspect of the verse included above. “Chant,” “Lawless music,” “swinging lamps at night,” “madly-whistled laughter,” “numbling like an earthquake,” and “law of thyself complete” all represent qualities we see in happy people.  Eliminating the bell creates
happiness since without it there are no further reminders of the traditionalists.  The modernists do not want to replace the bell.  Rather than purchase a new bell (which will create sound), the modernists obtain a lamp (which instead emits light).  The modernists no longer want to associate peacefulness with sound; peacefulness will now be associated with the gentle light of lamps.  Since peaceful sound has a violent and demented connotation (thanks to its
association with traditionalists), modernists create sound that is the opposite of peaceful—noisy and confused—in order to deflect memories of the traditionalists.  Some examples of
their sounds and music include: “chants,” “lawless music,” “madly-whistled laughter,” “echoing,” “glib piano thine,” and “shrieks.”
     “Launch’d o’er the prairies wide, across the lakes” represents how the persecution by traditionalists, including all remembrance, is gone, and has, to an extent, flown away.  Launched carries a connotation of immediate relief. If someone had something troubling them, the first
thing they would like to do is launch the problem “across the lakes, to the free skies.”  In other words, send the traditionalists (or persecutors) away unpent and remember vengeance will be cast upon those who do not repent for their sins.  The twist is modernists do seek vengeance, but feel deities best enforce punishment.  Modernists will be “glad and strong” while waiting for the traditionalists to die “unpent” and be judged, and possibly be sentenced to an eternity in hell.

Analysis 3

“To a Locomotive in Winter” is a detailed and explanatory process of sexual intercourse.  “Thee for my recitative” can be related to the way men persuade women into agreeing to have sex.  The man’s persuasion is almost a performance in that income, services, agreements, and rhetoric may be connected to whether the male receives sex or not. “Thee in thy driving storm even as now, the snow, the winter-day declining” has two interpretations.
    First, it could mean physiological drives toward sex occur in all weather, cold or warm.  Secondly, it could be a description of the weather outside while the poet has a need, “even
as now” to have sex.  In any case, the poet moves from talking about the outside to his bedroom.  (The transition has a sexual connotation by moving the male genitalia from “outside” to
“inside.”)  “Thee in thy panoply” can be likening the protective nature of a condom to armor.  Use of the words:  “in thy” show the poet currently wearing a condom; the poet may even be
telling his sexual partner that he is inside a condom so she need not worry about unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections.  Apparently, use of the condom has
helped her calm as he now speaks of “dual throbbing” and “beat convulsive.”
    These two quotes indicate an act with two (dual) persons entering and exiting in rhythms that make them look animalistic from their need to keep “throbbing” until their convulsion ends in a “black cylindric body”—often known as the colors and pleasure experienced during sexual
intercourse.
    “Black cylindric body” can also indicate how the mind is absent (blacked out) while the body is whole and complete on the bed that is “golden brass and silvery steel.”
    “Thy …  side-bars” are the two legs of each partner. Although it is unlikely, the poet may be describing the “ponderous” legs of both partners, with the female being remarkably overweight.  On the other hand, “ponderous” probably relates to the man’s biologically heavier legs that can
burden or bother the female who is beneath him.  “Parallel and connecting rods” is an indication that both partners are “parallel” to each other in order for the rod (the penis) to connect.  This is humorous in that few people see the act of sex from a geometrical point of view, with parallels
and connecting points at direct locations, guiding both persons into slots as intricate as a jig-saw puzzle.   Sex almost seems absurd when it is described as “gyrating, shuttling at thy sides,” because the vision includes two people moving back and forth frequently within the same location while not proceeding toward anything else.  Sex is running without moving forward.  This interpretation is associated with those who watch the act moreso than those who participate. The argument that sex is an absurd or ridiculous activity would better serve those who watch sexual activity (such aspornographers and voyeurs) since watching essentially serves no purpose other than removing the underlying curiosity of what sexual intercourse is and its mysterious nature.
  Many interpretations can be seen in the verse, “Thy metrical, now swelling pant and roar, now tapering in the distance.”  “Metrical” highlights an important issue for males: penis size.  During the act of sex, the penis grows and grows from being engorged in blood; afterward, however, it “swells” after the “pant and roar” of the orgasm.  The penis can be thought to be something “tapering in the distance” since after orgasm the penis  gradually gets smaller and smaller until it is flaccid, which can be embarrassing.
    Rather than deal with the embarrassing issue, the next verse discusses the female breasts, which are “great protruding head-light fix’d in front.”  This almost is jealousy for the female’s “great” breasts (head-light), which thrusts forward and allows people to admire, while the male is stuck with a small sexual organ.  “Fix’d in front” is almost a childish attack on what the female biologically received. The poet is saying:   “Look, nature gave her a permanent gift
that shall remain on her front side forever while I, on the other hand, was not given much.”  The discussion shifts back to the penis size, which is “long,” but can only exist when it is aroused to a “purple” color; in other words, while the female is “fix’d” toward having “great protruding head-lights,” the male has to settle with size only under times of arousal.
 Also, “head-light fix’d in front,” may be a comparison of the locomotive’s headlight fixed in front, which allows it to see and lead, whereas this female uses her breasts in a domineering an enticing strategy to throw the narrator into submission.
    Those thoughts must have occurred while engaging in sex as the next verse discusses the process of ejaculating.  Semen, with its whitish color, is “dense” from the concentration
of spermatozoa; “out-belching” can signify how ejaculation can be likened to belching as both release unnecessary and congested tension within our bodies, and when released, we feel good and relieved.    Most interesting is the “smoke-stack,” which is a chimney, usually tall, much like an aroused penis. Focus on the smoke-stack may indicate Whitman finds the act of sex “dirty” as an “out-belching” chimney.  Although sex itself is not physically dirty the way chimneys are, it can be depending on the interpretation (i.e., obscenity and indecency). Whitman’s view may be that some people inaccurately find sexuality dirty and filthy, which does not compare to the real filth of chimneys.
     The next verse is complicated and has many interpretations.  First, “knitted frame” can be two individuals so intertwined together that they have become one “knitted frame.”  “Knitted”
can also be a reference to a deity in that this act was originally “created” or “knitted” by a deity.
Additionally, use of the word “knitted” causes a question to arise: Who is knitting?  Again, perhaps the deity.  Knitting could symbolize a lack of free will, as though the deity forces
those two to consummate; maybe their biological propensity toward procreation is so strong that sex is irresistible and “knits” the rigid structure of sex (the frame).  Later, when the issue of “springs and valves” comes up, it could be a reference to the noise the bed makes during sexual intercourse. “Springs” relates to the jump, the rapid movement of the two sexual partners, and the valve relates to the female genitalia that engorges in blood in “one direction.”    The engorgement of blood increases as the female becomes aroused and “tremulous”—where she may shake, tremble, groan, and move about nervously from all of the feeling sent to her genitals.
    “Train of cars behind, obedient, merrily following” relates to the narrator’s former sexual partners.  Particularly interesting is use of the words “behind, obedient, merrily following,” which have a variety of meanings.  First, every singe word—without exception—is describing
dependency or submission.  It could be that once sexual intercourse is over, the partner becomes incredibly submissive because they want to be able to have the opportunity again.  These words
could also simply be an ego-boost for the narrator who thinks his former sexual partners could “never have enough” and are constantly “following” him in an effort to receive more sex.
Thirdly, these submissive words could indicate use of force or authoritative measures to the extent that former sexual partners had little freedom and were forced into submission, not by choice or want – but as a matter of life or death.  The narrator quickly moves back to the present,
where, through “gale or calm” he is “steadily careering.”  Through “gale or calm” means the narrator is either receiving sexual enjoyment from someone or is “calm” from lack of activity.
“Steadily careering” indicates the narrator never stops the pursuit for sex.  Promiscuity must take place since it is impossible for the sexual partner to be available at all times.  Likely, steadily careering means when one partner is not available, someone else is.
    “Pulse of the content,” is boasting of the amount of vibrations that occur during the process of sexual intercourse.  Movies and television dramatize this with couples inside cars rocking back and forth violently or second story houses collapsing from the rocking of the partners. Pulsing or “rocking” an entire continent seriously alters the meaning of sex from a pleasant and peaceful
experience people engage in to receive intense pleasure, into a violent and destructive force that can terrorize an entire content, almost like an earthquake.  In fact, an earthquake is exactly what he describes his “rumbling” to be that which “rouses all.”  One question one may ask is whether the “rousing” is people nearby waking up from the sexual intercourse that is similar to an earthquake, or whether it arouses the people nearby.  Perhaps this is an erotic, non-violent earthquake, which projects the sound of the couple having sex and arouses instead of shakes.
    “Madly-whistled laughter” is what creates the rumbling.  These words seem to describe afterplay, where two partners laugh about the experience, cuddle, and kiss.  “Madly” separates
afterplay from sexual intercourse because the act is over, and they are no longer burdened to attain some goal.  Their laughter is utter madness as nothing funny happened.  How can people laugh at a billion-year-old act that takes place millions of times a day on every continent of the
world?  Perhaps the laughter comes from having desire beyond comprehension before the orgasm and virtually hatred or disgust once the act completes (the laughter is mere nervousness since they now look into each other’s eyes and want to know how to escape as soon as possible!).  The laughter could also be directed at a deity for creating a “mad” act.  The thought may be, “Who would think of this?” Then, they say God; but thinking of god during sex
is absurd, so they laugh.  After the orgasm and afterplay, the narrator is “complete,”
with his “track firmly holding.”  The narrator is complete without the pressure since he can function better without sexual thoughts in mind.  Those who lust at all times of the day are unable to partake in alternative activities, especially goals.  Goals are the track held firmly. While the
sex may have pushed the narrator off track, he still is holding firmly onto his goals.  Since most people entering complicated and intense sexual relationships are lead off-track, it is important for him to mention one’s “own track firmly holding” to dispel rumors that “everyone” has problems following sex.  However, a refute to his argument is that he spends his nights “swinging lamps” and “rolling through …chants of … lawless music,” and therefore seems to
act chaotic while he claims to be holding onto his track. Perhaps his track is not the same rigid and slow path that most people picture.  Maybe his path is chaotic and bizarre, in which case, he is accomplishing his goals.  “Thy trills of shrieks” relates to the orgasm that is a thing of the past.  Those shrieks are what created the earthquake and the “pulse of the continent.”  But a more important point is “rocks and hills return’d,” which is a description of the sexual organs returning to their natural condition.  Rocks can be thought to be the female breasts, which are round and, when aroused, rather hard; hills are difficult to walk on due to their elevation, which can be compared to the steep entry to the vagina which is not easy to “get to” (since most females say no to sex) or because the partner is either dry and makes traveling in that area difficult.  Another interpretation of this is the lovers remember the sounds of their “shrieks” whenever they pass hills with rocks.
      In this alternative interpretation, they hear their shrieks wherever they go, whether it be “o’er the prarires wide, across the lakes,” and even after death in the “free skies” (most likely a significance to God, heaven, or an afterlife). Remarkably, they need not repent for their “sins,”
which may signify either the Bible’s ban on premarital sex is not as true as fundamentalist Christians would have us believe, or, perhaps, these two are married.  In any case, being
unpent allows them to go to the “free skies” glad and strong, which is a stark contrast to what religious leaders all over America would have anyone believe.

Analysis 4 (combination of interpretations)

Sexual intercourse, managers, pacifistic men, and locomotives all follow the natural law of the earth.  For example, almost every person on earth has a desire to have sex. Managers must understand new psychological research on mental health that can lead to breakdowns in employee’s morale. Pacifistic and emotional men feel it is morally wrong to be violent
and aggressive.  And locomotives involve the chemistry of burning coal to produce energy.  The poem is written or spoken by a deity to all of the above.  (The poem’s name, “To a
Locomotive in Winter,” could be translated into:  “To everything smaller and less powerful than a locomotive, that lives in conditions better than the harshest winter. This speech was written purposely in poetry.  Most humans write formal letters when communicating commands.  A
deity would find writing such material simple and below it’s capability.  Rather, writing poetry to convey commands is far more striking to the human being attempting to analyze the internal thoughts of a being revered in one form or another on earth.  The recitative adds to this notion by
creating a heavenly atmosphere where musical lyrics are floating simultaneously as the poem is either read by the deity or the recipients. The deity is well aware that our society has become
secularized and many eternal laws are no longer followed or believed.
    The first thing the deity must do is inform the finite human beings that punishment (referred to as the “driving storm”) is applicable “even as now.”  The winter-day is best thought to be the eternal laws of God (the summer day should be thought to be the ideas and concepts of the devil as hell is where intense heat lies forever and ever).  The deity expresses his knowledge of the secularization of society by stating the “winter-day declining,” (humans are moving away
from God and holiness).   The deity then shifts to punishments that have been taken upon those who have not been holy.  A human “panoply” is a vain shield against a deity,  which is able to implement “dual throbbing,” (shake a person with twice the emotional force a finite human can), “beat convulsive,” (violent and terrible disturbances acted on again and again; possibly, a description of eternal hell), “parallel and connecting rods,” (a lightning rod within the
deity’s “hand” that connect directly to a human), “gyrating,” (going back full circle, to the first punishment), and “shuttling,” (moving between all of these punishments rapidly, almost randomly).
    Deities are traditionally omniscient (all-knowing).  This deity is quick to point out the “head-light fix’d in front.”  “The front” can be thought to be the future, or anything that lies ahead.  Since the deity has a light (or vision) of the future, nothing is essentially a surprise.  This
statement likely shocks the man and woman having sexual intercourse (described in analysis three).  Having knowledge of everything is useful if it is combined  with power.  If the deity knows everything, it should know the ultimate truths of morality and have the opportunity
to punish those who violate it.  Deities who specify rules for life and refuse to enforce these guidelines are as ineffective as managers who tolerate disobedient and mediocre employees. Knowing full well that humans obey when power is shown by a ruler, the deity describes itself almost as though it is running a personal ad:  “long” (reference to its size and duration of its life), “pale” (description of its whitish or colorless or faint appearance in the eyes of humans), “floating vapor-pennants” (the flag of victory waves day and night in the location levitated away from the earth, which is probably heaven), “murky” (removes all light from the person’s world; essentially, this punishment is blindness).  In other words, “Obey me because I’m strong beyond human comprehension; if you think I don’t exist, it’s because I cannot be seen by your eyes; also, if you think you can win, you are foolish—for I have always won and always win—and my flag is cast in a permanent spot in heaven, providing an eternal
victory for myself.”
    However, deities are supposed to be benevolent.  Why else, besides fear of punishment, would anyone worship them?  If the deity continues to talk only about punishment and its power,
it will sound far too similar to high school bullies who are quick to show their muscles and describe in graphic detail what punishments they will lay upon “uncooperative” cohorts.  Fully aware of the latest psychological research on threats of punishment, the deity quickly talks about its more benevolent attributes, including:  “delicate purple” (purple, again, is reference to authority , but delicate signifies something can be damaged, which could be its benevolence; there are times when the deity is not benevolent, as stated above); “twinkle of thy wheels” (finding humor over the nature of being in charge, which humanizes the deity who moves from dictating to finding humor in leading and controlling people).
    One problem with the existence of a being that created everything on earth is whether it dictates our conscious, actions, thoughts, and opinions.  This deity has taken a rather unusual position by acknowledging that no one has free will, that everything done is similar to the moving parts in a clock or locomotive.  For example, a “knitted frame,” is a precise framework of what someone will do, with minimal room for change outside the frame.  Further, he continues
to talk about mechanical parts, “springs and valves,” to depersonalize the unique personality of all human beings.  From his standpoint, personality and thoughts simply are mechanical parts put together and are simply running based on his original commands.  The manager, for instance, had no choice but to manage!  Managing was implanted in the mind of the manager by the deity!  The sexual inclinations of the person in the previous analysis also came from the deity. And the conflict with the traditional and modern men was started when the deity decided to provide two sides with opposing viewpoints.
    The deity looks at all of this comotion he created by never providing humans free will.  He sees humans as “train of cars behind, obedient, merrily following.”  The deity sees humans as robots trained to think they are separate and rational entities, whereas they are simply acting out of instinct.  (Ironically, humans think animals are instinctively driven, following nature’s—or the deity’s—plans).  Essentially, the deity’s purpose is to watch how humans are so far behind him; humans think they are original and unique and novel whereas everything they have ever done was a creation by the deity. These humans are absurd, then, because they think they are free while realistically they are tied down and forced to do whatever they do. A reasonable question to ask of this deity, then, is how can you punish someone when they are not guilty? The answer is simple, explains the deity, because I have the “emblem of motion and power—pulse of the content.”  In other words, who are you to question the fairness of my arbitrary power? Certainly even the idea that this is unfair has to come from the deity, as humans have no free will. But humans are essentially boring compared to other deities. This particular deity has a girlfriend, Muse, who joins in the gala of philosophical ideas pertaining to humans. Humans are essentially boring compared to Muse, who has free will, and therefore, has the ability to inspire poetry.  By the verse, “…even as here I see thee,” appears to portray Muse as an inspiration of poetic ideas into the mind of this deity, since, not long after he sees her, his makes dramatic changes.  No longer is he looking down at earth toward the humans who think they have free will.  Instead, the deity is focusing attention on his location, where the goddess lives, and human problems are abstract and ridiculous to think about.
      His first reference to his godess, “Fierce-throated beauty!” is a reference to her flushed face, either from blushing or from having so much energy, much like the sun.   It is rather odd for a deity to write about his love affair with the goddess.  It is almost as though the deity is taken off track, confused, or seduced away from his rules for living.  But, as theologians are quick to point out, “We can never understand the supernatural as they are outside the boundaries of human
experience, reason, logic, and contemplation.”  In any case, the deity appears to be making some rather absurd statements. For instance, he writes of lawless music, which essentially cannot be a violation of any laws, human or eternal, as he creates these laws!  How can a deity be in violation of its own law?  Further, “thy swinging lamps at night,” seems obscure when we think of a deity not existing within a limited frame of time, but all time.  The deity should be within day and night simultaneously.  However, the lamp may be a metaphor for stars.  He might be playing and hugging and swinging around stars all over the universe, which are essentially silly “lamps” from his perspective.  From this perspective it makes sense to discuss swinging stars at night; after all, stars are seen at night.
    The deity is aware of his rather absurd behavior after looking around.  Amid the noise, he finds himself in heaven, again, where “tearful harp or … piano” are before his eyes.
     These instruments may be used to remind the deity where he is: in a place where tranquility exists for eternity.  Before anyone copies his menacing and childish behavior, he reforms,becoming “complete…and firmly holding,” by ending rebellious music and action, and continues his written memorandum in prose typical of a holy deity dictating orders,
commandments, and descriptions of his power.
    The deity has one final commandment.  Those who “shriek by rocks and hills,” (those who are overjoyed by the gift of life) shall be “launch’d” away from “praries wide, across the lakes,” (taken up away from the earth) and moved to “the free skies…glad and strong.”  In other words, those who enjoyed life, encountered the nature “created” by the deity, shall enjoy the reward of heaven, glad and strong.  (The shriek is almost the childish joy of seeing nature and touching it and screaming with excitement to see so much novel stimuli).  Those who have not enjoyed life or explored nature, however, are going to a location where people are unhappy and weak.

e-mail:  MICHAEL REHNQUIST