Lyric Poem · Dreams & Sleep
Travel
by Edna St. Vincent Millay · 1921
The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn't a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.
All night there isn't a train goes by,
Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,
But I see its cinders red on the sky,
And hear its engine $teaming.
My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing,
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Travel” by Edna St. Vincent Millay — quilloak.com/poems/travel
Quick facts
- Poem
- Travel
- Poet
- Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Published
- 1921
- Length
- 12 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Rhyming Poems
- Themes
- Dreams & Sleep, Life
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 12 lines · 3 quatrains
- Line length
- Lines run 7-10 syllables (median 9). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Edna St. Vincent Millay1892–1950
- Source record
- WikisourceTravel by edna-st-vincent-millay, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1921
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 d64af0cf11240d63…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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