Apostrophe to the Automobile

Winthrop E. Scarritt, 1906

O winged horse! O steed of steel!
Long centuries thy coming have awaited.
Into thy vitals hath been poured
The deep distilment which the Sun-God made
Ages ago, when, in the morn of Life,
He kissed the tropic forests with his heated breath,
And Bloom and Beauty hid themselves in sleep
Till Time should make them fitted for thy need


O thou new King of Time and Space!
In the hot furnace of forgotten fires
Were forged thy nerves of steel, thy heart of iron,
Awaiting but the magic touch of man
To fit thee for thy true and destined place
In the procession of the triumps of the ages.
Go forth upon the Earth in benediction.
When Sunrise Bell calls toiler forth to new day's work,
Be thou present to transport him and his burden.


When weary man in city street has spent his vital force,
Be thou present to carry him to country lane,
To flower and field and forest green,
Where tides of life and health set in again,
To music from the rippling brook and singing birds.
Again, and yet again, and thrice again, I greet thee,
O thou last, best gift of all the gods to man.
On thy countless missions of peace and helpfulness
Speed onward to Time's latest day,
O thou Emancipator of the Human Race!