Classic Poem

Come all you young people
And listen to what I tell;
The fate of Floyd Collins
Alas, we all know well.
His face was fair and handsome,
His heart was true and brave
His body now lies sleeping
In a lonely sandstone cave.

How sad, how sad the story;
It filled our eyes with tears,
His memory will linger
For many, many a year.
His broken-hearted father
Who tried his boy to save,
Will now weep tears of sorrow
At the door of Floyd's cave.

Oh mother, don't you worry,
Dear father, don't be sad;
I'll tell you all my troubles
In an awful dream I had.
I dreamed that I was a prisoner,
My life could not be saved.
I cried, “Oh must I perish
Within the silent cave.”

The rescue party gathered;
They labored night and day,
To move the mighty boulder
That stood within the way.
“To rescue Floyd Collins,”
This was the battle cry;
“We will never, no we will never
Let Floyd Collins die.”

But on that fatal morning,
The sun rose in the sky;
The workers still were busy;
We will save him bye and bye.
But oh, how sad the ending—
His life they could not save;
His body then was sleeping
Within the lonely cave.

Young people all take warning
With this for you and I;
We may not be like Collins;
But you and I must die.
It may not be in a sand cave
In which we find our doom;
But at the mighty judgment,
We soon must find our doom.