We conclude the poem of T J Charleston on The Loss of the Titanic.
Titanic, Titanic, thou destroyer of life
Thou has parted many a man from children and wife
And many little children thou has plunged in the deep
Innocent as lamb, to take their last sleep.
No doubt some hundreds lay fast asleep
As her living cargo she gave to the deep
But hundreds more had to watch the awful end
That trip would bring, you can depend.
Through being a monarch – as many thought –
Hundreds to a watery grave were brought
As every one on board did think
It was impossible for the ship to sink.
But she deceived them and thousands more
Who heard the news on either shore
And to know she foundered on such a lovely night
As from the heavens the stars shone bright.
No storms had disturbed the deep, deep sea
So that cannot be the owners’ plea
But speed and ice had brought to doom
The finest ship, very much too soon.
The thirteenth of April well-remembered be
By people here and across the sea
When that beautiful hymn that has been sung
By the band was played to old and young.
To drown the cries of mother and child
Who we must know were almost wild
The conductor ordered midst cries and fume
‘Nearer my God’ to be the tune.
The boats were lowered and the orders ran
‘Women and children, but stand back, man’
As that I think is the law of the sea
Or whatever and Englishman may be.
Husband put wife, father put child
Took their last look at the face that once smiled
Kissed their sweet lips, again and again
For that was their last, in this their life’s train.
The parting it was awful for human tongue to tell
Father wishing children and wife the last farewell
Knowing it was their last look into each other’s eyes
Until they meet in heaven, the world above the skies.
Some faithful wives would not leave the ship
But to their husbands they then did slip
And in each other’s arms were locked and bound
With their loved one, agreed to drown.
There was plenty of time and that we know
To give every passenger, and safely stow
Them into boats, if they were on board
But she not very many stored.
The look-out man cried, ‘Iceberg ahead!’
Or that is what the papers said
Why was the Titanic then not slowed down?
Which has been the talk in every town.
If the one to blame is among the dead
He has nothing more to fear or dread
But let this for future a warning be
To men in charge of ships at sea.
When carrying passengers across the deep
A good lookout they always keep
And should see an iceberg, or anything else indeed
Ring at once to those below to stop, or slacken speed.
If this had been done in the Titanic case
Such a slaughter would never have taken place
Which sent so many hundreds into the angry deep
To take their last both cold and icy sleep.
While some were waiting on the other side
To welcome wife, or one to be their bride
Others their little children’s faces would have kissed
If that deadly iceberg the Titanic missed.
Whole families of eight, and even eleven
Were all swept out, and we hope in heaven
Not one of them left the tale to relate
Or join their friends in the United States.
No one thought in this world of bliss
That anything could happen where Captain Smith
Had command of a ship so fine
When their journey commenced on the railway line.
Farewell was sung, which I heard by chance
As some folk started from their town, Penzance
Farewell it was and always will be
Their friends, their faces no more will see.