 | Farm legends |  |
145
THE RAILROAD HOLOCAUST.
[New Hamburg, N. Y., February, 1871.]
Over the length of the beaten track,
Into the darkness deep and black,
Heavy and fast
As a mountain blast,
With scream of whistle and clang of gong,
The great train rattled and thundered along.
Into the darkness deep and black,
Heavy and fast
As a mountain blast,
With scream of whistle and clang of gong,
The great train rattled and thundered along.
Travelers, cushioned and sheltered, sat,
Passing the time with doze and chat;
Thinking of naught
With danger fraught;
Whiling the hours with whim and song,
As the great train rattled and thundered along.
Passing the time with doze and chat;
Thinking of naught
With danger fraught;
Whiling the hours with whim and song,
As the great train rattled and thundered along.
Covered and still the sleepers lay,
Lost to the dangers of the way;
Wandering back,
Adown life's track,
A thousand dreamy scenes among;
And the great train rattled and thundered along.
Lost to the dangers of the way;
Wandering back,
Adown life's track,
A thousand dreamy scenes among;
And the great train rattled and thundered along.
Heavily breathed the man of care;
Lightly slept the maiden fair;
And the mother pressed
Unto her breast
Her beautiful babes, with yearning strong;
And the great train rattled and thundered along.
Lightly slept the maiden fair;
And the mother pressed
Unto her breast
Her beautiful babes, with yearning strong;
And the great train rattled and thundered along.
Shading his eyes with his brawny hand,
Danger ahead the driver scanned;
And he turned the steam;
For the red light's gleam
Flashed warning to him there was something wrong;
But the great train rattled and thundered along.
Danger ahead the driver scanned;
And he turned the steam;
For the red light's gleam
146
But the great train rattled and thundered along.
“Down the brakes!” rang the driver's shout:
“Down the brakes!” sang the whistle out:
But the speed was high,
And the danger nigh,
And Death was waiting to build his pyre;
And the train dashed into a river of fire.
“Down the brakes!” sang the whistle out:
But the speed was high,
And the danger nigh,
And Death was waiting to build his pyre;
And the train dashed into a river of fire.
Into the night the red flames gleamed;
High they leaped and crackled and streamed:
And the great train loomed,
Like a monster doomed,
In the midst of the flames and their ruthless ire—
In the murderous tide of a river of fire.
High they leaped and crackled and streamed:
And the great train loomed,
Like a monster doomed,
In the midst of the flames and their ruthless ire—
In the murderous tide of a river of fire.
Roused the sleeper within his bed:
A crash, a plunge, and a gleam of red,
And the sweltering heat
Of his winding-sheet
Clung round his form, with an agony dire;
He moaned and died in a river of fire.
A crash, a plunge, and a gleam of red,
And the sweltering heat
Of his winding-sheet
Clung round his form, with an agony dire;
He moaned and died in a river of fire.
And they who were spared from the fearful death,
Thanked God for life, with quickened breath,
And groaned that too late,
From a terrible fate
To rescue their comrades was their desire,
Ere they sunk in a river of death and fire.
Thanked God for life, with quickened breath,
And groaned that too late,
From a terrible fate
To rescue their comrades was their desire,
Ere they sunk in a river of death and fire.
Pity for them who, helpless, died,
And sunk in the river's merciless tide:
And blessings infold
The driver bold,
Who, daring for honor, and not for hire,
Went down with his train in the river of fire.
And sunk in the river's merciless tide:
And blessings infold
The driver bold,
Who, daring for honor, and not for hire,
Went down with his train in the river of fire.
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