A roaring furnace make the prison hall;
While wild alarms the fire department call.
The screams of prisoners, in terror, swell
The clamorous noise to sounds as harsh as hell,
As firemen, driven by shots and brandished knives
And dynamite—to save their precious lives—
Desert their posts; and Manhood weakened falls
In darker ruin than wrecks of battered walls;
For men, once held courageous, quail and cower,
While Anarchy, unchallenged, seizes power.