Lo! a dense cloud obscures the Northern skies,-
Hark! from New Brunswick, piercing shrieks arise;
The wild deer starts astonish'd from his lair,
The soaring eagle seeks a purer air,
The wand'ring woodman stays his sturdy stroke,
His breath impeded by impervious smoke;
The moose, the bear, the wolf, rush mingled by,
And scared and screaming birds around him fly!
A fearful warning of his dreadful fate—
He strives to fly-but, ah, he strives too late;
In vain Despair his waning strength renews,
A flood of Flame on wings of Wind pursues—
Exhausted, panting, to the Earth he falls,
On his lov'd wife and helpless children calls:
But wife, alas, nor child again shall hear
The tender accents of that voice so dear:
O'erta'en, enveloped by the ruthless fires,
The wretched man in agony expires!
The blazing Deluge through the forest pours, His fell ally, the fierce Tornado, roars;
Nor stream nor mountain their dire course restrains,
They burst, at length, upon the peopled plains!
Horror of horrors!-can the Muse pourtray
The matchless anguish of the dreadful day?
Can the tongue utter-can the pen relate,
In language adequate, the horrid fate
Of the devoted towns?-With wild amaze
Through the black smoke they see the flick'ring blaze;
Its pitchy fumes corrupt the ambient air,—
A moment's left them-left them-to despair!
Hark! hark! those loud, those agonizing cries!
A mother's voice!-her stifled infant dies!
She clasps its corse, repeats its darling name,
Reckless she hears approach the crackling flame;
Her husband rushes to their aid too late,-
He cannot save them-but he shares their fate!
Lo! midst the fires, one darting in despair!-
His only child, dear pledge of Love, is there!
Nature impels him with resistless force,
In vain the flames oppose his frantic course-
He gains his threshold!-for a moment blest,
He clasps his son, exulting, to his breast;
He flies again across the torrid plains,-
His vig'rous arm the precious charge sustains;—
Hope gives new energy,-fond hope to see
His child again embrace a mother's knee,—
She, haply absent, lives to share his joy
If to her arms he bear their lovely boy!
Vain hope, alas!-No more that child shall bless
A mother's heart-no more her bosom press!-
The raging elements more swiftly speed,
The smoth'ring fumes the infant's lungs impede;
The frenzied parent marks its lab'ring breath,-
Convulsed it struggles in the grasp of Death!
Ye, who have seen a parching fever doom
Your only infant to an early tomb,
Watch'd by its couch with agony intense,
Mark'd its now wand'ring,-now returning sense,
Bent to receive its feeble, fond embrace—
Hoped, while the hectic flush illumed its face,-
Hopeless beheld the transient color fly,
Its cheek grow pale, and dim its gazeless eye,
Heard the last flutt'ring of its ebbing breath,
And witness'd all the horrors of its death,
Ye, only ye, are privileged to know
The father's dire pre-eminence of woe
Your hearts a kindred sympathy will own
For those afflictions which ye once have known.
Confusion-Terror-Uproar-Frenzy—Strife,
Mar every effort in defence of life
A horrid din of shrieks and groans and yells,
The pangs of suff'ring hundreds sadly tells-
Crowds through the trackless woods attempt to fly,
The flames outstrip them-they are doom'd to die.
Some, headlong plunging in the foaming waves,
Exchange the fun'ral pyre for wat❜ry graves!
A lucky few escape the torrid beach
On planks of pine, and doubtful safety reach.
Hope, ye survivers, hope!-See o'er the surge Yon succ'ring bark the dauntless seamen urge-Strain ev'ry sinew to impel the oar! Quick! or they perish ere ye gain the shore! Forward she presses!-but, alas, how small!Who shall remain?-She can't receive them all! Yet all rush to her-Cease that horrid strife!
Ah, who can blame them?—they contend for life ! —
Frantic they cling to the receding boat,
Oppress'd and crowded, she can scarcely float;
Numbers convulsively the gunwale clasp,
The oarsmen free it from their fatal grasp,-
Self-preservation hardens ev'ry breast,-
A part must perish to preserve the rest-
Heart-rending scene!-For them Hope's cheering ray
Beam'd but a moment, flatt'ring to betray:
Short, though severe, their suff'rings-in the deep
Their pangs are ended-and they cease to weep.
Now glow the waves with rafts of burning pine, And all the merchant's floating riches join To feed th' insatiate fires-Rock'd on the tide, Far from the beach his gallant vessels rideStill insecure-nor space nor waters yield Against the rav’ning pest a guardian shield; The burning embers, spread by furious gales, Descend in show'rs and fasten on their sails; Their blazing masts the glowing deep illume, Their crews desert them, and the flames consume Stores, wharves and docks, the gen'ral ravage share, And all is ruin, horror and despair!
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