Standard (EADGBE)

Sometimes I consider my pace,

 I'm reminded of a train gathering speed,

 for the climb to the pass

 In whose shadow it all really lies,

 a small metal wagon approaching,

 the ever present ascending rise;

 to the southern mountains

Reeling and snaking and leaping,

 it seems like it wants to come loose,

 from its path cast in iron

 But she can't slow down now,

as the earth has presented,

 a new crest to reach

 without barely a rest;

 from the last one

 And you wonder just what lies beyond,

though you've been there before,

 and forget about the effort and the strain

Always ascending,

 each yard adds a mile,

 to the never-ending pull,

 of the steepening grade;

 that's before you

valley, forest, desert, stream,

 with an oversized bridge,

 for the trickle there beneath

 You remember the torrent,

 it turned to last spring,

 from the snows melting fast

 and the river it became;

 in the summer

 Perhaps it is ruined,

 from a fire that has scorched it,

 so badly that nothing

 will grow without rain

 To wash away the blackened soil,

 now useless till called upon again,

 in a future as twisted and far away;

 as the next range of mountains

 So take it as far as you see

 and beyond,

 with eyes you don't use enough,

gather up strength

 As Thoroughfare Gap,

 will await you forever,

 you're seeking to get there

 for even before;

 it's no matter;

 no distance;

 it's the ride