UP AND AWAY- T.MARK

If ever I travel to France or Spain,
I mean to go in an aeroplane.
I’ve read all about it, and now I know
How they swing1 the propeller2, and off you go!
A run and a bounce, and you’re looking down
From high in the sky on a little toy town;
And the fields like a bedspread3. green and brown,
With ribbony roads all winding through,
So empty and quiet, it hardly seems true
That anyone’s there looking up to see
You racing along, like a big letter T,
Through the clouds and into the light,
Smaller and smaller, and out of sight.

And the aeroplane climbs and dips4 and swings
While loudly and proudly the engine sings,
And the pilot sits in his cockpit5 there
With the wireless to bring him the news of the air.
Then all of a sudden beneath you there’ll be
The tiny ships on the shiny sea,
And next you’re Abroad - and I hope it seems
Just as lovely as in your dreams,
With castles6, cathedrals, and cities with walls,
Forests and fountains and waterfalls,
Great grim7 mountains all rocks and snow,
And broad, bright rivers away below,
Till, tired ofthe sky, like a bird coming home,
With a dive you arrive at the aerodrome8.
It might be horrid9 in fog or rain,
But I mean to go in an aeroplane
If ever I travel to France or Spain