Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific - meaning Summary
Power and Equality in Death
The poem contrasts an owner and a laborer—Huntington and Blithery—who once occupied different places in the railroad hierarchy. Each "sleeps in a house six feet long" and dreams according to former roles: Huntington remembers commanding thousands, Blithery remembers obeying and laying rails. The closing line underscores the equalizing effect of death, collapsing social rank into the same modest grave, and suggests irony about legacy and power.
Read Complete AnalysesHUNTINGTON sleeps in a house six feet long. Huntington dreams of railroads he built and owned. Huntington dreams of ten thousand men saying: Yes, sir. Blithery sleeps in a house six feet long. Blithery dreams of rails and ties he laid. Blithery dreams of saying to Huntington: Yes, sir. Huntington, Blithery, sleep in houses six feet long.
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