He still sat in the saddle, and held the guiding rein,
Yet wind and wave awoke him not, and thunders roared in vain.
His spirit had ascended, death set the hero free,
And God shall say in His great day, "Thou didst it unto Me!"
Look down, ye Alleghenies, with ever-darkening frown,
Upon the selfishness which caused the ruin of Johnstown.
A reservoir was fashioned, of full three miles in length,
An inland lake, kept back by dam of insufficient strength;
No mills were driven by it; no water-works supplied;
A few rich men, for selfish sport, claimed all these waters wide.