the first stanza of Auden's poem, followed by some new lines: Passing the shunter intent on its toil, moving the coke and the coal and the oil. Girders for bridges, plastic for fridges. Bricks for the site are required by tonight. Grimy and grey is the engine's reflection, down to the docks for the metal collection. Passenger trains full of commuters, bound for the office to work in computers. The teacher, the doctor, the actor in farce; the typist, the banker, the judge in first class. Reading the Times with the crossword to do, returning at night on the six forty-two. In other media The first concert performance of Britten's score took place on 7 November 1997 at the Conway Hall in London. The score was first published in 2002. It imagines the real sounds of the train and incorporates these imaginary sounds into the score. At over fifteen minutes, it is one of Britten's most elaborate film scores. Night Mail was the basis for a song of the same name by British band Public Service Broadcasting for their 2013 album Inform-Educate-Entertain. On 14 May 2014, the film was one of those chosen for commemoration in a set of Royal Mail stamps depicting notable GPO Film Unit films. The opening stanza of the poem was sampled heavily by electronic musician Aphex Twin, under his AFX moniker, in the song Nightmail 1, officially released by Warp in July 2017 as part of the orphans digital EP. The copyright on the film expired after 50 years, but some sources assert that the W.H. Auden poem remains protected by copyright as a written piece. References Sources External links Night Mail video British Film Institute 1936 films British documentary films Documentary films about rail transport British black-and-white films London, Midland and Scottish Railway Films directed by Harry Watt Films directed by Basil Wright 1936 documentary films Black-and-white documentary films 1936 in the United Kingdom Documentary films about the United Kingdom GPO Film Unit films Postal history of the United Kingdom Films set in England Films set in Scotland Films about postal systems Films shot in Greater Manchester 1930s English-language films 1930s British films