95
THE FOUNDERING OF THE "ELBE,"Through Collision with the "Crathie,", 50 Miles fromLowestoft, 5.40 A.M., Januwary 30th, 1895.
Adown the bleak North Sea the vessel steamed
In intense darkness, 'mid the blinding snow,
On that cold, wild, rough morn, ere daylight dawned.
A sharp collision, dire disaster came,
A sudden crash, a rude awaking, swift
Confusion, rapid hurrying on deck,
Hoarse shouts, shrill shrieks, awed silences, report
Of water inrush, awful signs of doom,
Appalling horror, consternation great,
Deep desperation, rocket-firing quick,
Short orders, prompt obedience, and a rush
For lowering boats.
One swamped at once,
One cleared the vessel with a living freight,
But ne'er was heard of, never seen again,
One only weathered the fierce elements,
And bore just twenty of four hundred lives
To safety, and those other fated ones
In few brief moments passed unto their death,
As sank the huge wreck in that seething sea.
In intense darkness, 'mid the blinding snow,
On that cold, wild, rough morn, ere daylight dawned.
A sharp collision, dire disaster came,
A sudden crash, a rude awaking, swift
Confusion, rapid hurrying on deck,
Hoarse shouts, shrill shrieks, awed silences, report
Of water inrush, awful signs of doom,
Appalling horror, consternation great,
Deep desperation, rocket-firing quick,
Short orders, prompt obedience, and a rush
For lowering boats.
One swamped at once,
One cleared the vessel with a living freight,
But ne'er was heard of, never seen again,
One only weathered the fierce elements,
And bore just twenty of four hundred lives
To safety, and those other fated ones
In few brief moments passed unto their death,
As sank the huge wreck in that seething sea.
Oh, who shall picture, who shall ever tell
The hurried agonies of heart and mind
Crowded into those moments of suspense,
And the succeeding quietude beneath
The surging surface of that dark abyss?
The hurried agonies of heart and mind
Crowded into those moments of suspense,
And the succeeding quietude beneath
The surging surface of that dark abyss?
And who shall picture, who shall ever tell,
Though twenty lived and told, oh, who shall tell
The mingled feelings of the castaways
Tossed on the boisterous, stormy, threatening waves,
But a mere speck on the vast, heaving deep!
On, on they fought with almost certain death,
Destitute, desolate, exhausted, drenched,
Though twenty lived and told, oh, who shall tell
The mingled feelings of the castaways
Tossed on the boisterous, stormy, threatening waves,
But a mere speck on the vast, heaving deep!
On, on they fought with almost certain death,
Destitute, desolate, exhausted, drenched,
