Classic Poem

THE Swallow , light as Eden's bird,
Swept o'er the mighty Hudson's breast,
And smiling on the silver wave,
The star of evening seemed to rest.

Amid her spacious cabins shed
Full many a lamp its brilliant ray;
And there in conversation sat
The young, the lovely, and the gay.

Hope twined a wreath for many a brow,
And pleasure beamed in many an eye;
Perhaps some gentle lay beguiled
The moments swiftly flitting by.

On, on she speeds her rapid course;
But hark! a crash! a dreadful shock!
What mean those loud and piercing shrieks?
She strikes upon the sunken rock!

What consternation, what dismay
Depicted on each ghastly face!
As frantic to the deck they rush,
Locked in each other's wild embrace.

" My friends, " the captain calmly said,
" Be not dismayed — your fears allay; "
At this the trembling star of hope
Shone with a momentary ray.

Peace and tranquillity restored,
They to the cabin all retire;
But ere 'tis reached, Oh God! a shriek
More loud is heard, of fire! fire!

The wreathing flames, with awful glare,
Illume the dark and angry sky;
The tempest raves; ah! who can paint
That scene of keenest agony!

A husband clasped his lovely wife,
While fear convulsed her trembling frame,
And plunging in the boiling tide,
They struggled long the shore to gain;

But oh! she perished! — in his arms
The light of life had passed away;
And sleeping in her watery tomb,
He left in watery grave her clay.

One they have rescued from the deep; —
But why that troubled, restless air?
" Save her! " he cried; " think not of me!
She was committed to my care. "

He pointed to a female form
That floated senseless on the wave;
" Leave me to perish! fly to her!
And snatch her from a threatened grave! "

Two noble steamers side by side
Are at a distance faintly seen;
They near the wreck, and hope revives
In hearts where keen despair has been.

Thanks to a Providence divine
Two hundred passengers they save;
But, bitter thought! full many sleep
Beneath the Hudson's rolling wave.

Yet when the last loud trump shall sound,
And earth and sea yield up their dead,
These slumbering ones to life restored,
Shall rise and leave their watery bed.