Mother, look out and see that light—
How red it makes the sky;
Oh, ’tis a grand though fearful sight!
See how the bright sparks fly!
It is a house on fire, my son,—
An agonizing sight;
It serves to make more deep the gloom
That haunts my soul to-night.
Mother, what dreadful noise is that,
Which thunders o’er the pave?