The Ballad.... Of The Glorious Birth
Of "Steam Punk" .... 1876, TheNew Era
As You Know, Steam Punk Is What We Like,
So Let Us Ride Our Time Traveling Bike
And Turn The Pages
Back To The 1876 Ages.
Back, Back, To ......"THE NEW ERA", As It Was Called,...
When American Machines Were Standing Tall !
The "Corliss Engine" We Will Go To See,
The Biggest Steam Engine That Will Ever, Ever,... Be...
Manufactured By Man ...In All Of History !
A Legendary Engine, Thirty Feet In Height,
Slugging Out One Thousand-Six Hundred Horse Power,...Tight,Tight,Tight,...
Called The Greatest Steam Engine Ever Made.
Let It Not.....From Our Memory.... Fade !
The Republic Of America Was One Hundred Years Mature,
In The World Powers,.. Our Foot-Print Was Secure !
On This 10th Day Of May,....In The 1876 Year,
The United States Centennial Fair Engaged.... This New Gear !
Steam Punk, Steam Punk,...The Power That Ruled The World,
Steam, Steam, More Steam,.... Powered The Machine,
That Moved The Freight, The Ore, The Food, The Cattle,..
Why Steam Punk Even Carried ...Our Armies To Battle!
To Celebrate Our Nations' One-Hundredth Year Of Birth,
Eight Million People Put On Their Best Dress Shirt,
And Came To Philadelphia, Paying Fifty-Cents Each...
To Find What Seventy-Acres Of Exhibitions ... Could Teach!
Steam Punk Power, Steam Punk Power, ....It Ever Prevailed,
Steam Punk Powered Every-Thing... In The Water, On A Rail,
On The Stages, In The Pits, All The Machines,.. In All Their Bits.
Steam Punk Inventors Had Created... These Mind Bending Hits !
All The Kings' Horses, And All The Kings' Men,
Were Flabber-Gasted At Steam Punks' New En--gine.
The Corliss Steam Machine Was Cranked
By President Ulysses S. Grant,
On The Opening Day Event,....
And "It" Alone... Powered Every Other Machine... On Display,
It Alone,...All Thru The Night,...All Thru The Day!
"A Miracle !",... Every-One Would Say.
The Main Hall Of The Philadelphia Centennial ,
In Its' Day, Was The Largest Building In All The World,...
All The More Reason To Display, And Unfurl
The Greatest Steam Engine Ever Built,...The Corliss Engine....
The Worlds Biggest, The Worlds Best !
Steam Punk, Steam Punk, Never Before Now,
Our Republic Showed The World How
American Inventors Could Work Together,
To Sever The Bondage,... To Cut The Tether
Of Depressing Freedoms' Inventiveness
Of The... Not So Common, ...."Common Man"!
Never Again, ...Never Again !
The Spark Of Ambition Was Kindled In Many A Young Human,
Who Attended The Fair Ground Only Assuming
To Be Entertained, Some What,...Just Entertained !
Instead, They Were Astounded, Awed, Over-Whelmed,...And Stimulated
To Greater Aspirations Of Achievement,
Convinced And "Hell-Bent"
To Show The World
Their Own..."Inner-Pearl" ...Of... Brilliance !
Machines On Display That "Made Machines"
Could Be Found At The Centennial Fair And Scene.
Steam Punk Powered Lathes... That Could Finally Grind
Precision Parts... That Blew ...Imaginative Minds
Wider Open,... To Greater Possibilities...
Coming To Be... Tomorrows... Realities...
Of Even Greater Machines !
Steam Punk, Steam Punk,...The Thing Of Dreams !
Now You Know Why,...For...Never Before....It Seems,...
In The History Of Civilization
Had There Been An Advanced Nation
Whose Citizens Had Known Such Freedom,....
Inventive, Creative, With Tools, Parts, And Power,...
To Build Their Genius, Their Dreams, Their Inspiration,
It Was....Their Hour.
Yes,...Americans With ...Individual Freedoms
In The First Century Of Their Existence
Demonstrating Gods' Blessed Persistence !
Their Freedoms Consolidated
By Science And Mechanical Inventions,...
Now It Was On With Tomorrow,..
And Americas' Worldly Intentions!
The Greatest Steam Engine Ever Built,...Stood On Display,
In The Philadelphia Centennial,...That 10th Day Of May,
The Corliss Steam Engine,...American Invented, American Built,
Steam Punk, Steam Punk, Steam Punk Was Here To Stay,
...In America,... Gloriously Born On That 1876 Day !
Roy Carlyle Mauldin Jr. [Dusty]
copyright 2015