Classic Poem

THE FALL OF RICHMOND

Upon that selfsame day of bitterness,
That April Sabbath, Richmond, likewise doomed,
Beheld her hour of judgment drawing near.

The hallowed stillness turned to loud uproar
Within the Southern Capital so long
Protected by Lee's men against all foes.
The streets were thronged with clamorous multitudes
Bent on escape. With the approach of night
Tumult and terror reigned. The populace,
Beholding the fast-fleeing lords of state,
And hearing wide alarms, turned fugitive.
Insane conjestion filled the turbulent dark;
Fear with increasing turmoil seized the town.
Mobs gathered in the streets, and violence
Raged recklessly — the spirit of lawlessness
Fed by the spirit of famine. Everywhere
Wild riot rolled wild panic as it swept
Rising to fierce debauchery and crime.
Midst shameless horrors added horrors rose
More shameless, as 'twere blasts disrupt from Hell.
The later night reddened with fiery rents,
Exploding Arsenal and powder stores,
Shells bursting without reason or excuse
As though discharged by madmen or by fiends.
These, with a myriad founts of thunder mixed,
Havocked the City, shaking hearts of men.
Ewell, the martial guardian of the town,
Was blowing up the Ironclads in the James,
Was firing bridges, starting holocausts,
And swinging open wide the gates of rage.
A thousand homes were burning; sacred fanes
And civic structures were fast cindering;
In quenchless and consuming sweep of flame
The City's heart was burning down to dust.
A hideous mingling of discordant tongues,
Crying of children, women's wild laments,
Old age bemoaning life and time and fate,
Fierce yells of ruffians, threats of pillagers,
And maddened shrieks and curses filled the air.
Richmond's defenders were in headlong flight;
Their cause was scattering on fiery winds;
And God was hidden behind a blazing sky.