“the Earthquake”
Date
3-7-1812
Newspaper
Boston Colombian Centinel
Page and Column
Page 4, Column 1
Newspaper Location
Boston, Massachusetts
Serial Number
146
Abstract
Poem about the earthquakes of 1811-1812. Makes the connection that the earthquakes are a sign from God not to go to war with England.
Transcript
THE EARTHQUAKE. Still was the hour.-The moon drove high Her cloudless course along the sky- The winds were hush'd-no zephryr's sigh Breath'd o'er the deep tranquility. What awful stillness reigns around- Nature seems sunk in sleep profound. --What sudden trembling moves the ground? What shakes the world thus fearfully? Earth's bosom seems with pain to swell- --What crash was that?-what strikes the bell? Nature is this (general knell) My soul is this eternity? Behold! the mighty mountains nod, As when on Sinin's summit trod The footsteps of the Eternal God, When he unveil'd His majesty! How dread the thunders awful roll That shake the earth from pole to pole!*-- What Pow'r can thus convulse the whole? Can it be less than DIRTY? Tempests, and fires-whirlwinds and storms- Comets-earthquakes-and other dire alarms, Distinctly cry "FLY NOT TO ARMS! BE BRACEFUL, WISE AND GOOD!" Columbians!mind the WARNING CRY! Lest, punish'd through Democracy, Your suffering Country bleed and die, Freedom be lost forever! *General note.-The most terrific accounts received of the damage done by the recent earthquakes, are from the Mississippi, of the sinking of Islands, banks, &c.-In various parts of the Southern, Western and Middle States the shocks occasioned the bells in churches to wag.-In Nov. and Dec. last earthquakes were also felt on the Continent of Europe, and in Great-Britain.
Recommended Citation
"“the Earthquake”" (1812). New Madrid Compendium Far-Field Database. 143.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/cas-ceri-new-madrid-compendium/143
