A Route of Evanescence — Steamboat

A Route of Evanescence ¹
With a revolving Wheel－
A Resonance of Emerald－
A Rush of Cochineal－
And every Blossom on the Bush ⁵
Adjusts its tumbled Head－
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy Morning's Ride－

(F.1489/J.1463)

[1] Route of Evanescence:: a vanishing route, a sea route.
[2] Wheel:: the paddle-wheel of a steamboat or train.
[3] Emerald:: emerald-cuckoo.
[4] Cochineal:: carmine, color of the burning coal.
[5] Bush:: a cylinder _{(OED bush n.2)}.
[7] Mail:: mail steamboat; Tunis is a port city in North Africa.
[8] Ride:: a ride of steamboat or train. Tunis' first railroad operated in 1872. This poem was written around 1879, so a mail train is also possible. Mail steamers operated earlier than trains in Tunis. The use of Evanescence suggests more on a steamboat.

There are ten or eleven sorts of cuckoo, one of which, the emerald cuckoo, though nearly the smallest, may be reckoned the most beautiful bird in this part of Africa, from the brilliant green of its back, contrasted with the bright canary yellow of its breast. ─ Life in Abyssinia (1868)

the application of the motion of this shaft, to make the capstan of a steamboat revolve; and an improvement in the form of a spiral paddle-wheel of a steamboat. ─ The Law of Torts or Private Wrongs (1866)

Genoa R. Bumbttino & Co.'s Italian Mail Steamers. Mediterranean Lines. Genoa to Tunis. From Genoa every Thursday at 9 P.M. ─ Handbook for Travellers in Kent and Sussex (1868)