You might wonder why I bring the clunking, hissing, stinking power of steam into this work

A symphony in brass

Spinning and whirring

An unwanted trespass

Our senses blurring

At the roar of the steam

Our intentions adeem

Lost in the engineers dream.

But still there is a majesty and a power in the great riverboats, their wheels flagellating the water, forcing it to permit their passage.
Even in my youth, it was a rare thing for a respectable person to travel east along the Paraeba, even as far as Oiphallarian. This is slowly changing. The great steamers have brought to travel a luxury that was once impossible. On the biggest one can dine in style. You can eat the finest food; drink the finest wine, dance to the accompaniment of those musicians whose copybook is so blotted that they no longer dare set foot in a civilised city. For…