The Sunderland Calamity Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCC DDDDDD EEFF GGHH IIGG JJKK LLJJ KKMM GGDD NNHH CCOO PPGG QRGG BBST DDLU VWXX| 'Twas in the town of Sunderland and in the year of | A |
| That about children were launch'd into eternity | B |
| While witnessing an entertainment in Victoria Hall | C |
| While they poor little innocents to God for help did call | C |
| - | |
| The entertainment consisted of conjuring and the ghost illusion play | D |
| Also talking waxworks and living marionettes and given by Mr Fay | D |
| And on this occasion presents were to be given away | D |
| But in their anxiety of getting presents they wouldn't brook delay | D |
| And that is the reason why so many lives have been taken away | D |
| But I hope their precious souls are in heaven to day | D |
| - | |
| As soon as the children began to suspect | E |
| That they would lose their presents by neglect | E |
| They rush'd from the gallery and ran down the stairs pell mell | F |
| And trampled one another to death according as they fell | F |
| - | |
| As soon as the catastrophe became known throughout the boro' | G |
| The people's hearts were brim full of sorrow | G |
| And parents rush'd to the Hall terror stricken and wild | H |
| And each one was anxious to find their own child | H |
| - | |
| Oh it must have been a most horrible sight | I |
| To see the dear little children struggling with all their might | I |
| To get out at the door at the foot of the stair | G |
| While one brave little boy did repeat the Lord's Prayer | G |
| - | |
| The innocent children were buried seven or eight layers deep | J |
| The sight was heart rending and enough to make one weep | J |
| It was a most affecting spectacle and frightful to behold | K |
| The corpse of a little boy not above four years old | K |
| - | |
| Who had on a top coat much too big for him | L |
| And his little innocent face was white and grim | L |
| And appearing to be simply in a calm sleep | J |
| The sight was enough to make one's flesh to creep | J |
| - | |
| The scene in the Hall was heart sickening to behold | K |
| And enough to make one's blood run cold | K |
| To see the children's faces blackened that were trampled to death | M |
| And their parents lamenting o'er them with bated breath | M |
| - | |
| Oh it was most lamentable for to hear | G |
| The cries of the mothers for their children dear | G |
| And many mothers swooned in grief away | D |
| At the sight of their dead children in grim array | D |
| - | |
| There was a parent took home a boy by mistake | N |
| And after arriving there his heart was like to break | N |
| When it was found to be the body of a neighbour's child | H |
| The parent stood aghast and was like to go wild | H |
| - | |
| A man and his wife rush'd madly in the Hall | C |
| And loudly in grief on their children they did call | C |
| And the man searched for his children among the dead | O |
| Seemingly without the least fear or dread | O |
| - | |
| And with his finger pointing he cried That's one two | P |
| Oh heaven above what shall I do | P |
| And still he kept walking on and murmuring very low | G |
| Until he came to the last child in the row | G |
| - | |
| Then he cried Good God all my family gone | Q |
| And now I am left to mourn alone | R |
| And staggering back he cried Give me water give me water | G |
| While his heart was like to break and his teeth seem'd to chatter | G |
| - | |
| Oh heaven it must have been most pitiful to see | B |
| Fathers with their dead children upon their knee | B |
| While the blood ran copiously from their mouths and ears | S |
| And their parents shedding o'er them hot burning tears | T |
| - | |
| I hope the Lord will comfort their parents by night and by day | D |
| For He gives us life and He takes it away | D |
| Therefore I hope their parents will put their trust in Him | L |
| Because to weep for the dead it is a sin | U |
| - | |
| Her Majesty's grief for the bereaved parents has been profound | V |
| And I'm glad to see that she has sent them | W |
| And I hope from all parts of the world will flow relief | X |
| To aid and comfort the bereaved parents in their grief | X |
William Topaz Mcgonagall
(1)
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