________________________________________________
Title: Verses On The Railroad Accident Near Copetown
Author: Thomas Cowherd [
More Titles by Cowherd]
VERSES, SUGGESTED BY THE FEARFUL ACCIDENT ON
THE GREAT WESTERN R. R. NEAR COPETOWN, ON THE
NIGHT OF THE 18TH MARCH, 1859.
March, with his usual terrors armed,
Resolved again to mark his flight
O'er the "Great Western," which has swarmed
With human freight by day and night.
Leagued closely, with a mischievous crew,
Held by stern winter in reserve,
He up and down the doomed track flew,
But did not from his purpose swerve.
His eye he fixed upon a part--
A deep embankment on a slope,
And joy o'erflowed his chilly heart
While lingering near the town of Cope.
Musing, he to himself thus spoke:
"Here shall my darling scheme be tried;
I and my gang at one bold stroke
Can easily produce a slide.
"Better to serve my purpose foul
I'll fix it for the eighteenth night,
And raise such storm as may appal
The bravest soul that lacks daylight!"
Then, as by some mysterious spell
He called for elemental strife.
Forth came dread clouds as black as hell
That seemed with every mischief rife.
Impelled by many a howling blast,
Uniting in terrific roar,
They down their fearful contents cast,
And quickly a deep chasm tore.
The midnight train came rushing on,
Nor dreamt the passengers of death.
Nor thought perhaps that ere day's dawn
God would call some to yield their breath.
With furious speed the Iron Horse
Plunged headlong in the new-formed deep,
While raging elements their force
Spend as if laughing at the leap.
Dragged swiftly down is every car
Save one, the last of all the train,
And still the storm prolongs the war
With drifting snow or pelting rain.
Imagination scarce conceives
The shrieks, the groans, the heart-wrung wails,
Which rent the air! One yet believes
They did exceed what's told in tales.
And still the wind its keenest darts
Hurls at the living and the dead.
Blest then were those whose fearful hearts
Could cling to Christ who for them bled.
[The end]
Thomas Cowherd's poem: Verses On The Railroad Accident Near Copetown
________________________________________________
GO TO TOP OF SCREEN
