The Coffin Ships Of 1848 Poem by Mai Murphy Venn

It was a year of sorrow, a year of remorse.
As the coffin ship's captain set sail on course.
We stood on the deck while we bid our last farewell.
With tears rolling down our sad story, I will tell.

That journey was long; we were hungry and cold.
We sailed all the way to the country of honey and gold.
We paid the famine penalty under Victoria's reign.
The history books documented our sadness and pain.

That famine was the cross that we had to bear.
Leaving our homes, our country, for many a year.
We huddle together in our own little band.
As we wave to our friends, we leave our country and land.

Desolation all around us from stern to the bow.
We were off to a country that none of us know.
On the first day, the sea was still and quiet.
Then came a fierce storm, thundering all night.

The ship rocked up and down, back and forth.
There were countless storms before we reached port.
Families lost kin overboard, to a lonely watery grave.
There were high squally gales; they could not be saved.

That journey was long; we were hungry and cold.
We sailed all the way to the country of honey and gold.
We paid the famine penalty under Victoria's reign.
The history books documented our sadness and pain.