The Night Mail

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This is the night mail crossing A mail train crosses the border. The border is not specified in the poem, but it is likely that it refers to the border
the Border, between England and Scotland since the train is traveling from London to Scotland.
Bringing the cheque and It brings letters for everyone. A postal order is a type of money order usually intended for sending money through the
the postal order, mail.
Letters for the rich, letters for the
The letters are for people from all walks of life, both the rich and the poor.
poor,
The shop at the corner, the girl
It has letters for the shop at the corner and the girl next door.
next door.
Pulling up Beattock, a steady The train is climbing up Beattock.
climb: Beattock is a village located in Scotland
The gradient’s against her, but
and the slope is against it, but it is still on time.
she’s on time.
Past cotton-grass The train passes through a landscape of cotton-grass plants and moorland with boulders (an extensive area of moor,
and moorland boulder which is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, etc)
Shovelling white steam over her The train is Personified. It is referred as ‘she’ who shovels aside white steam over her shoulder as she moves forward
shoulder, through the darkness of night.
Snorting noisily as she passes the sound of the train is heard as it passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses. through miles of wind-bent grasses.
Birds turn their heads as she
birds turn their heads when the mail train approaches and
approaches,
Stare from bushes at her blank-
stare from bushes as her. The coaches of the train have blank faces.
faced coaches.
Sheep-dogs cannot turn her
sheepdogs cannot change the direction of the mail train.
course;
They slumber on with paws
They sleep with their paws crossed as the train softly passes by.
across.
In the farm she passes no one she passes by a farm without waking anyone up. People are aware of the arrival of the train at night but they are not
wakes, worried or amazed by the sound. It is a part of their life.
But a jug in a bedroom gently
However, a jug in a bedroom shakes gently when the train passes.
shakes.
Dawn freshens, Her climb is Finally it is early morning and her uphill journey is over.
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done.
Down towards Glasgow she
Now she starts her journey downhill towards Glasgow. (another city in Scotland)
descends,
Towards the steam tugs yelping
The steam tugs are boats that are used to tow other boats or ships. 
down a glade of cranes
Towards the fields of apparatus, The fields of apparatus refer to factories and other industrial sites. The furnaces refer to places where things are
the furnaces burned or heated up.
Set on the dark plain like gigantic
These industrial sites look like giant chess pieces on a dark plain.
chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her: Everyone in Scotland is waiting for the mails.
In dark glens, beside pale-green
lochs In narrow valleys and beside pale green lakes – the remote areas, people wait for mails
Men long for news.
Letters of thanks, letters from
There are different types of letters – to thank someone, from banks
banks,
Letters of joy from girl and boy, letters that inform something happy from a girl or a boy
Receipted bills and invitations there are receipts and bills and letters of invitation also.
To inspect new stock or to visit
to check out new goods that have arrived or to visit relatives
relations,
And applications for situations, job applications sent through mail
And timid lovers’ declarations, letters written by timid lovers
And gossip, gossip from all the
there is news about all the world
nations,
News circumstantial, news
some are news of a particular situation and some are financial news
financial,
Letters with holiday snaps to
Some letters contain photographs that can be enlarged.
enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled on the
Some letters have faces drawn on the margins.
margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and
Letters arrive from uncles, cousins and aunts
aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the
letters come to Scotland from the south of France
South of France,
Letters of condolence to
letters are being sent to people in Scotland who have lost loved ones.
Highlands and Lowlands
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Written on paper of every hue, Letters are written in different colored papers
The pink, the violet, the white and
some are pink or violet or white or blue
the blue,
The chatty, the catty, the boring,
Some letters are like long chats, some are spiteful, some letters are boring and some show great devotion
the adoring,
The cold and official and the
some letters are cold or official/ formal and some say everything the heart feels
heart’s outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long, some letters are clever, some are stupid, some are short others are lengthy
The typed and the printed and the
some are types, some are printed, some are handwritten with spelling errors
spelt all wrong.
Thousands are still asleep, Many people are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters and in their dreams they are dreaming of terrible monsters
Or of friendly tea beside the band or dreaming of having a cup of tea with friends while listening to a band play in either Cranston’s or Crawford’s. (tea
in Cranston’s or Crawford’s: shop)
Asleep in working Glasgow, Some people are asleep in Glasgow and in Edinburgh Glasgow and Edinburgh are Scotland's two major cities, and
asleep in well-set Edinburgh, both attract many visitors each year. 
or in Aberdeen. (Aberdeen is called “The Granite City” because it is famous for its locally quarried(extracted) granite
Asleep in granite Aberdeen, stone which was used to build many of Aberdeen’s most famous buildings such as London’s Houses of Parliament,
Trafalgar Square, etc)
They continue their dreams, they keep dreaming in their sleep
But shall wake soon and hope for
but they will wake up soon and hope that news and letters will reach them
letters,
And none will hear the postman’s
and when they hear the postman knocking at their door,
knock
Without a quickening of the heart, they will be excited in anticipation
For who can bear to feel himself
as nobody wants to feel forgotten by their loved ones.
forgotten?