The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-05-01
SINKING OF THE TITANIC

BY IRVING SIDNEY DIX.

y \ \ = \ \ 49, ~
BY IRVING SIDNEY DIX.
Titanic-rightly named, sir"-says
the captain of the ship,
And the safest of all vessels-now
mark her maiden trip"
And all think as the captain thinks
all her two thousand souls,
AS steadily out DER the sea the state
ly vessel rolls.
For she is shod with iron, and her
frame is built of oak,
And stout hearts man the vessel
wherefore the captain spoke;
And with nothing pleasure making
so stately and so fair,
She seems a floating palace-fit for
angels living there.
So farewell" says merry England,
farewell" says each green isle,
And blessings for Titanic on her
initial trial
And praise be to her makers, and
goodwill to her crew,
And safely to her passengers
this our last adieu.
o there were pleasant partings as the
vessel sail'd away,
And there was Joy in every heart
that pleasant April day,
And there were happy thoughts of
home-of meeting kith and kin,
For the stately vessel soon would be
her harbor safe within.
And so blue the sky above them, and
so blue the wave beneath,
That all,-all thought of living and
no one thought of death,
fNtrl r..
England far behind,
And, hour by hour, the ship sped
on as speeds an ocean wind.
And when night came, with fond
good-nights the floating city
slept,
Yet ever Ger the rolling waves the
mighty vessel swept,
And no one thought of danger-un-
til with thunderous roar,
The great ship struck the rock-like
ice, and shook from floor to
floor.
Then there was breaking timbers,
I and bulging plates of steel,
And noise of great commotion along
that vessels keel
Then there were cries of anguish,
and curses from rough men,
And earnest prayers for safety-O
prayers for safety then.
For women wept in terror, and stout
men drop'd a tear,
And the shouting and the tumult was
maddening to hear,
Yet there amidst that seething the
life-boats, one by one,
Were set adrift at midnight-where
cold sea-rivers run.
Then, on that fated vessel, the
thousand waited there,
In hope some sea-born sister would
snatch them from despair,
But no ship came to aid her, and, in
the dead of night,
The noble ship Titanic sank sudden
ly from sight.
o midway in old ocean, in her dark
est, deepest gloom,
A thousand brake hearts bravely
went down to meet their doom,
And what tragic picture!-Oh,
what a solemn sight
Upon that fated vessel with the stars
still shining bright!
Then there was time for thinking
o time enough to spare,
And there was time for cursing and
time enough for pray'r,-
Time,-time for retrospection, and
time enough to die,
Time, for life's great tragedy
and time to reason why.
That was the greatest battle that
ever yet was fought,
That was the greatest picture on any
canvas wrought,
That was the greatest lesson that
mortal man can teach,
That was the greatest sermon that
priests of earth can preach.
Yet no one fought that battle with
saber or with gun,
And no one saw that picture, save
those brave hearts alone,
And no one read that lesson there
written in the dark,
And no one heard that sermon that
went straight to its mark.
Nor shall we know their story, the
saddest of the sea,
Or shall be learn the sequel, the sor.
row yet to be,
But long shall we remember how
brave men bravely died
/ For some poor, lowly woman with a
baby at her side.
And when the world gets scorning
the greatest of the great,
When poverty sits cursing the man
of large estate.
o then let men remember, how, in
that awful hour,
The wealth of all the world was