Public and Private Use of the Telegraph

O'er the red battlefield, or populous street,
By river shore, or by the railway side,
Or stretch'd on old-world shells beneath the tide,
The wire is laid, our world-wide wants to meet.
The lightning dived, and rose to bring my name
To England, with a message kind and sweet:
And at my beck return'd again, to greet
My distant friend, as swiftly as it came.
'Tis strange to hold in full monopoly,
Even for an instant, that electric spell
Which serves the State, yet plies for thee and me;
And lends itself our homely news to tell:
The mighty moment posts o'er land and sea,
With Willie's birth or Lotty's last farewell.