Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE 'FRISCO EARTHQUAKE, by EFFIE WALLER SMITH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE 'FRISCO EARTHQUAKE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: While the earth shook and trembled and hungry
Last Line: Sad, ah, sad was their fate!
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Disasters; Earthquakes; Urban Life; Dead, The


While the earth shook and trembled and hungry flames wild
Leaped skyward as building on building were piled.
They perish by thousands, fathers and mothers,
Husbands, wives, sisters, sweethearts and brothers;
The rich and the poor, the high and the low,
In the beautiful city of San Francisco.
Sad, sad was their fate; sad, sad was their fate
In the fair city of the Golden Gate;
In the city of flowers and sunlight,
In the city so gay and so bright,
Sad, ah, sad was their fate!

Death came when the first rosy tints of the morn
In the eastern sky were beginning to dawn.
What hopes and ambitions were then holding sway
In the hearts of those people on San 'Frisco bay
When death came to claim them eternity knows,
Eternity knows and can only disclose.
Sad, sad was their fate; sad, sad was their fate
In the fair city of the Golden Gate;
In the city of flowers and sunlight,
In the city so gay and so bright,
Sad, ah, sad was their fate!





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