The Titanic Disaster Poem

    REVISED


    I.

    On the cold and dark Atlantic,
        The night was growing late
    Steamed the maiden ship Titanic
        Crowded with human freight
    She was valued at Ten Million,
        The grandest ever roamed the seas,
    Fitted complete to swim the ocean
        When the rolling billows freeze.


    II.


    She bade farewell to England
        All dressed in robes of white
    Going out to plow the briny deep,
        And was on her western flight;
    She was now so swiftly gliding
        In L Fifty and Fourteen
    When the watchman viewed the monster
        Just a mile from it, ’Twas seen.


    III.

    Warned by a German vessel
        Of an enemy just ahead
    Of an Iceberg, that sea monster,
        That which the seamen dread.
    On steamed this great Titanic;
        She was in her swiftest flight;
    She was trying to break the record,
        On that fearful, fearful night.


    IV.

    Oh; she was plowing the Ocean
        For speed not known before,
    But alas, she struck asunder
        To last for ever more,
    A wireless message began to spread
        Throughout the mighty deep, it said,
    “We have struck an iceberg, being delayed;
        Please rush to us with aid.”


    V.

    The Captain, of the White Star Line,
        Who stood there in command,
    Was an Admiral of seasoned mind
        Enroute to the western land.
    The Captain thought not of his life
        But stood there to the last
    And swimming saved a little child
        As it came floating past.


    VI.

    Outstretched hands offered reward
        For his brave and heroic deed
    But the intrepid man went down aboard
        Trying to rescue a passenger instead
    This ill-starred giant of the sea
        Was carried to his grave
    On the last and greatest ship, was he,
        That ever cleft a wave.


    VII.

    Gay was the crew aboard this ship,
        Passengers large and small;
    They viewed the coming danger,
        They felt it one and all.
    On played the grand Orchestra
        Their notes were soft and clear;
    They realized God’s power on land
        On sea ’twas just as near.


    VIII.

    So they played this glorious anthem
        Continued on the sea
    And repeated the beautiful chorus
        “Nearer My God To Thee.”
    Then silenced when the ship went down
        Their notes were heard no more.
    Surely they’ll wear a starry crown
        On that Celestial Shore.


    IX.

    Colonel Astor, a millionaire,
        Scholarly and profound,
    Said to his wife, “I’ll meet you dear
        Tomorrow in York Town.”
    His bride asked a seaman true
        “Oh say! may husband go;”
    The echo came upon the blue
        He answered, “He may, you know.”


    X.

    This man rushed not to his seat
        He seem to have no fear,
    Being calm, serene and discreet
        Tendered it to a lady near,
    “Oh go, he said, my darling wife
        Please be not in despair,
    Be of good cheer, as sure as life,
        I’ll meet you over there.”


    XI.

    Well could he have known this dreadful night
        The sea would be his grave
    Though he worked with all his might
        For those whom he could save.
    This man a soldier once has been
        Of military art,
    Proved himself full competent then
        To do his noble part.


    XII.

    Major Butt, well known to fame
        A lady did entreat,
    To kindly name him to his friends
        Whom she perchance to meet.
    He forced the men to realize
        The weaker they should save;
    He gave his life with no surprise
        To the sea—a watery grave;
    And with a smile upon his face
        He turned to meet his fate,
    Soon, soon the sea would be his grave
        In and ever after date.


    XIII.

    And Strauss, who did the children feed,
        Had mercy on the poor,
    And all such men the world doth need
        To reverence evermore.
    Oh, may the union of Strauss and wife
        Be memorial to all men,
    Each for the other gave their life,
        A life we should commend;
    And may all girls who chance in life
        To read this poem thru
    Emulate the deed of such a wife,
        As went down in the blue.


    XIV.

    Down, down goes the great Titanic
        With faster and faster speed
    Until Alas! there comes a burst
        She bade farewell indeed
    Farewell, farewell to land and seas,
        Farewell to wharves and shore,
    For I must land beneath the breeze
        To reach the land no more
    I carry with me more human weight
        Than ever recorded before
    To leave them on a land sedate
        They will land, Oh! land no more.


    XV.

        Only a few you see,
        May tell the story
    Of this great calamity;
        Husbands, Wives, perhaps in glory
    View the sad catastrophe.
        The Carpathia eastern bound
    For the Mediterranean sea,
        Turned to the mighty sound,
    The wireless C. Q. D.


    XVI.

        Quick was the preparation made,
    To warn the unfortunate few,
        For the homeless was cold and delayed
    Being chilled by the wind as it blew.
        So to the youth
    Through life has started,
        Be ever thoughtful and true,
    Stay by the truth, be not departed
        Success shall come to you

    Oh, may you shun the Iceberg,
        By the dreadful work was wrought,
    And prosper by the lesson
        This mighty ship has taught.





End