The Celestial Omnibus

“The Celestial Omnibus” is a short story by British author E. M. Forster, originally published in 1911 in an anthology titled The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories. Forster primarily saw success as a novelist, penning classics like A Room with a View (1908) and Howard’s End (1910), but all of his works are similarly preoccupied with issues of class, gender, and intellectual hypocrisy. In its eponymous collection, “The Celestial Omnibus” joins other stories of fantastical realism to explore themes of Art and Materialism, Art and Childhood Innocence, and Adult Weaponization of Intellectualism.

This study guide refers to the 2013 FKM Books edition, published in an anthology entitled The Machine Stops, The Celestial Omnibus, and Other Stories. The citations in this guide indicate the story’s part (Paragraph 1.1) and paragraph (Paragraph 1.1).

“The Celestial Omnibus,” written from third-person limited perspective, develops a characteristic sense of wonder and literary enlightenment through its protagonist, an unnamed young boy. The boy lives with his parents in Surbiton, a suburban neighborhood southwest of London, and finds himself puzzled by a signpost opposite of their home—which points to an empty alley and is painted with the words, “To Heaven” (Paragraph 1.1). He questions his mother about the sign, but she insists it’s an ill-attempted joke, likely perpetrated by young men who had “wrote verses” and been “expelled from the University” (Paragraph 1.3). However, the boy’s curiosity remains, and he approaches Mr. Bons, a neighbor whom the family has invited to tea. Mr. Bons is an active community member, heading a local Literary Society. Upon questioning, he, too, believes the sign is a joke.

The boy and his mother walk Mr. Bons to their garden gate. After Mr. Bons leaves, the boy considers his neighborhood. He notes that after a certain house, the quality of the houses lessens, but he nevertheless admires how the sunset blurs the “inequalities of rent” (Paragraph 1.15). He recognizes a desire for “something just a little different” (Paragraph 1.15) and resolves to investigate the sign and its alley. The alley is high-walled, short, and abutted by two gardens. The boy notices a sign on the wall, issued by an anonymous Company, that advertises “Sunrise and Sunset Omnibuses” (Paragraph 1.17). The buses offer return tickets, to be exclusively purchased at a journey’s beginning. The boy nearly dismisses the sign as a hoax, but notices faint wheel marks on the ground. Before he can investigate further, he bumps into his father, who escorts him home and laughs at his attempt to “walky-palky up to Evvink [Heaven]” (Paragraph 1.19). 

The boy, still doubtful, resolves not to mention the omnibus. However, that night, he dreams about the omnibus gliding through Surbiton. He wakes when it’s still dark and foggy, and decides to catch the scheduled sunrise bus. At first, the alley is deserted, but then the omnibus—a carriage—appears. It is steered by two horses, and its driver faces away from the boy. The boy asks the driver about their destination. The driver responds that the omnibus journeys “the whole way” (Paragraph 2.7), and the boy requests a ticket. At sunrise, the omnibus departs. The boy worries about his parents and notices he forgot his purse. He calls out to the driver, Mr. Browne, whose name he finds on a noticeboard. He apologizes for being unable to pay for his ticket and offers to pawn his watch, but Mr. Browne declines, as tickets cannot be paid with coin or exchange. He corrects the boy’s address and introduces himself as deceased British author Sir Thomas Browne. Sir Thomas notices the boy’s confusion and invites him to sit up front. 

As they journey, the boy asks Sir Thomas about his profession. Sir Thomas says he was once a physician, but instead flourished as a “healer of the spirit” (Paragraph 2.22). He treated “queasy souls” (Paragraph 2.22), and the boy confesses he has felt similarly “queasy.” Suddenly, thunder strikes. The boy briefly considers his parents, and the horses stop. A rainbow appears through the clouds and stretches under the horses’ feet. Prompted by Sir Thomas, the boy looks below and sees a river and green pool in which three maidens bathe. He calls to them, and they answer cryptically, “truth in the depth, truth in the height” (Paragraph 2.46). The omnibus arrives on a distant shore.

The boy returns home at sunset, driven by a young woman. Once home, he is punished for his absence by learning poetry. He tells his father about the omnibus, but his father doesn’t believe him. His mother begs him to recant, but the boy refuses, knowing “it was the greatest day of his life” (Paragraph 3.1). Mr. Bons visits, and though he teases the boy about his trip, admits, “We have all romanced in our time” (Paragraph 3.6). The boy’s parents leave him with Mr. Bons, who prompts him to recite a John Keats poem. As he reads, the boy bursts into tears, explaining, “[A]ll these words only rhymed before, now that I’ve come back, they’re me” (Paragraph 3.16). Mr. Bons accepts this “essential truth of poetry” (Paragraph 3.21), but still dismisses the omnibus as imagination. The boy remembers he had been tempted to forfeit his ticket. However, he pleaded to return to his parents and promised that Mr. Bons would believe him, despite the drivers’ skepticism. Intrigued, Mr. Bons vows to accompany the boy on the next journey.

The next evening, Mr. Bons returns, and he and the boy catch the omnibus at sunset. This time, it is pulled by three horses, and the boy names the driver “Dan someone”—Italian author Dante Alighieri. Mr. Bons is alarmed upon recognizing Dante. The omnibus departs, with Dante’s quote hanging over its door: “Lasciate ogni baldanza voi che entrate,” or “Abandon all self-importance, ye who enter here” (Paragraph 3.40). Mr. Bons notes the “baldanza” should read “speranza” (“hope”). The boy admits he prefers Sir Thomas to Dante, and Mr. Bons chastises him. Mr. Bons reveals the driver has authored many of the books in his library. The boy remains unimpressed, and instead wonders if they will encounter Charles Dickens’s characters Mrs. Gamp and Mrs. Harris (from Martin Chuzzlewit), or race with singer Tom Jones. Mr. Bons chastises him for squandering their opportunity, as a “cultured person” would pursue the “creations of Homer, of Shakespeare, and of Him who drives us now” (Paragraph 3.52). 

The boy entrusts their two tickets to Mr. Bons, and resolves to carry himself seriously. However, once the omnibus ascends, he forgets himself and looks outside to see the rainbow bridge, which Mr. Bons does not see. The boy begins to sing, and Mr. Bons finally looks out the window, but then begs the driver to turn back. However, the omnibus continues, and Greek hero Achilles awaits on the familiar shore. The boy exits, but Mr. Bons is hesitant. Achilles lifts the boy onto his shield, but the boy protests “it is Mr. Bons who should be up here” (Paragraph 3.79). Mr. Bons refuses and begs the driver to take him back, reminding Dante that he has long worshiped him. Dante is unmoved and says “poetry is a spirit; and they that would worship it must worship in spirit and truth” (Paragraph 3.83). 

Eventually, Mr. Bons steps out of the omnibus and cries out, “I see London!” (Paragraph 3.84). He then falls. As a procession of torches and music approaches, the boy is confused, assuming it is meant to honor Mr. Bons. However, he himself is crowned. Later, a newspaper article appears detailing the discovery of Mr. Bons’s mutilated body. He is found near Bermondsey gasworks, in possession of two tickets. The police assume he was hurled from a great height and suspect foul play.