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                                  THE
                           TITANIC DISASTER
                                 POEM


                           By J. H. McKenzie

                           Guthrie, Oklahoma


    This event took place on the night of April 14, 1912 with the
    Titanic on her First voyage in the Atlantic Ocean bound for
    New York.


    Co-Operative Pub. Co., Guthrie, Okla.


    Copyrighted, May 1912.




    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 of Project Gutenberg's The Titanic Disaster Poem, by J. H. McKenzie