Portrait of a Machine

by Louis Untermeyer (1885 – 1977)

What nudity as beautiful as this

Obedient monster purring at its toil;

These naked iron muscles dripping oil,

And the sure-fingered rods that never miss?

This long and shining flank of metal is

Magic that greasy labour cannot spoil;

While this vast engine that could rend the soil

Conceals its fury with a gentle hiss.

It does not vent its loathing, it does not turn

Upon its makers with destroying hate.

It bears a deeper malice; lives to earn

Its master’s bread and laughs to see this great

Lord of the earth, who rules but cannot learn

Become the slave of what his slaves create.

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