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First, at the dawn of lingering day,
It rises of an ashy gray;
Then deepening with a sordid stain
Of yellow like a lion's mane.
Vapor importunate and dense,
It wars at once with every sense.
The ears escape not; all around
Returns a dull unwonted sound.
Loth to stand still, afraid to stir,
The chilled and puzzled passenger,
Oft blundering from the pavement, fails
To feel his way along the rails,
Or at the crossings, in the roll
Of every carriage dreads the pole.
Scarce an eclipse, with pall so dun,
Blots from the face of heaven the sun.
But soon a thicker, darker cloak
Wraps all the town, behold! In smoke,
Which steam-compelling trade disgorges
From all her furnaces and forges
In pitchy clouds. Too dense to rise,
It drops rejected from the skies,
Till struggling day, extinguished quite,
At noon gives place to candle-light.
O Chemistry, attractive maid!
Descend in pity to our aid.
Come with thy all-pervading gases,
Thy crucibles, retorts, and glasses,
Thy fearful energy and wonders,
Thy dazzling lights and mimic thunders.
Let Carbon in thy train be seen,
Dark Azote and fair Oxygen;
And Wollaston and Davy guide
The car that bears thee, at thy side.
If any power can, anyhow
Abate these nuisances, �tis thou;
And see, to aid thee in the blow,
The bell of Michael Angelo,
Oh join (success a thing of course is)
Thy heavenly to his mortal forces;
Make all our chimneys chew the cud,
Like hungry cows � as chimneys should!
And since �tis only smoke we draw
Within our lungs at Common Law,
Into their thirsty tubes be sent
Fresh air by Act of Parliament.
Henry Luttrell (1770-1851) called a "versifier and man of fashion" but truly one that recognized the art of chemistry and its potential benefit to mankind. The University of Literature, Vol 14.DePuy, J. S. Barcus & Co. 1896.
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