Line 91: “galvothermic” – A word Crane made up, most likely the combination of galvanic (appearing later in the poem, on line 124) and thermal. The definition of galvanic being “electricity developed by chemical action” and the definition of thermal being “of or pertaining to heat” (OED).
Line 100: “Daemon” – The Oxford English Dictionary defines a Daemon as a “supernatural being of a nature intermediate between that of gods and men; an inferior divinity, spirit, genius (including the souls or ghosts of deceased persons)” (OED). Additionally, Lewis defines Daemon as the thing which the “literal train…[has] metamorphosed into” (Lewis 362).
Line 101: “Wop” – According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a Wop is an “offensive term for an Italian or other Southern European, especially as an immigrant or foreign visitor” (OED).
"Italian Woman Immigrant, Ellis Island, New York," Immigrants at Ellis Island: a collection of unidentified photographs, received as a gift in 1947. Courtesy of NYPL Digital Gallery.
Line 104: “Genoese” – According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Genoese refers to “a native or inhabitant of Genoa,” a seaport and city in northern Italy (OED). Genoa is also where Christopher Colombus was from.
Line 113: “navelled” – According to the Oxford English Dictionary, navelled refers to “having a central depression or other formation resembling a navel” (OED).
Line 114: “Umbilical” – The umbilical is “the central depression in the abdomen, marking the point of attachment of the umbilical cord” (OED). Lewis suggests that the subway is a “thick metaphor” with “‘baby images'” where “the figurative child seems, alternately, to be barely born (in references to navels and umbilical cords) and to be several weeks or even several months old” (Lewis 363).
Line 115: “caught like pennies beneath soot and steam” – Reference to a common game where unsupervised children put pennies on the train tracks for the train to smash when it passes (http://www.livestrong.com/article/168397-train-safety-for-kid).
Line 117: “ganglia” – According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ganglia is “an enlargement or knot on a nerve, forming a center from which nerve-fibers radiate” (OED).
Line 119: “Lazarus” – Lazarus is found in a Biblical story as a man that Jesus raises from the dead (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09096a.htm).