(A Terrible World’s Fair Calamity)
A tragic song from 1893
Words by Arthur J. Lamb
Arranged by Otto Mueller
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by Denese Coulbeck:
Lyrics
- The summer sky shone soft and blue
And perfect was the golden noon
And throngs who only pleasure knew
In building, garden or lagoon
Dreamt not what was to happen soon
But hark, a sudden cry of “fire!”
That smolders in the storage tower
And quick are firemen climbing higher
To battle with the awful power
In future time to shine sublime
With every gallant heroe’s name
In every record of their fame - An anxious crowd beholds the scene
And watches them with bated breath
And smoke that doth the vision screen
Bespeaks the presence there of death
Bespeaks the presence there of death
The tower is reached, when suddenly
A cry of horror rends the air
For only flames the men can see
And fire surrounds them everywhere
In future time to shine sublime
With every gallant heroe’s name
In every record of their fame - And fiercer yet the flames leap on
And higher still they leap and dash
One moment more, a wall is gone
And downward thuds with awful crash
But where the firemen brave and rash
Some leaping to the depths below
Whilst others vainly call for aid
Yet, still in facing death, to know
A courage not by death dismayed
In future time to shine sublime
With every gallant heroe’s name
In every record of their fame - And redder, redder, glows the sky
And still destruction lingers there
The shrieks of those who suffering die
Sad rend the tranquil summer air
And hearts go forth in silent prayer
Too late, too late, the crumbling walls
Crash with the bodies of the brave
With every shock a fireman falls
And every moment marks a grave
In future time to shine sublime
With every gallant heroe’s name
In every record of their fame - But let us draw the curtain here
And saddened bow the humble head
And honor them who knew not fear
But sought to challenge fear instead
And won a monument when dead
A monument that to the age
Shall long survive the passing flame
And still to give to history’s page
The heroism born with fame
In future time to shine sublime
With every gallant heroe’s name
In every record of their fame