Edmund
Fitzgerald
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
by Gordon Lightfoot
The song can be found on his album "Summertime Dreaming"
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they called
Gitchigumi
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead When the skies of November
turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty. That good ship and crew was a bone
to be chewed
When the "Gales of November" came early
. The ship was the pride of the American side Coming back from some mill
in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most With a crew and good captain
well seasoned Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang Could it be the north wind
they'd been feeling? The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound And a
wave tumbled over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too, T'was the witch of November come
stealing. The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing When afternoon came it was freezing
rain In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck saying "Fellas, it's too
rough to feed ya."
At seven PM the main hatchway caved in, he said "Fellas, it's been good to
know ya"
The captain wired in he had water coming in And the good ship and crew was
in peril.
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Does any one know where the love
of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay If they'd put fifteen
more miles behind her. They might have split up or they might have capsized;
They may have broke deep and took water.
All that remains are the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters. Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her icewater mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams; The isles and bays are for
sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know With the gales of November
remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call
Gitchigumi
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead When the gales of November come
early. Copyright Gordon Lightfoot and Warner Brothers, Inc.
The music can be found at this
site
The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
-
The Great Lakes
provide a pathway for shipping. From the lyrics of the song think of
some other uses the Great lakes provide
-
Check out this site on the environment and list the
land features
and wildlife.
-
The Great Lakes Are divided halfway between Canada and USA. Use
this
political map to find out the main cities on the Canadian side of the
border.
-
On your own map trace the movements of the Edmund Fitzgerald from Winsconsin
to Cleveland.
-
Who are
the
Chippewa
-
What is their name for Lake Superior?
-
What was
the
Fitz built for?
-
Check this
site
out
-
Using Find under Edit find out who she was under charter for?
-
Who was her longtime master
-
What was her cargo
-
What do these terms mean
-
the lake never gets up her dead
-
Twas the witch of November comes stealing
-
Devise a chronlogical timeline of events that are depicted in the song
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From the lesson site links copy and paste the names of the crew
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Write a fitting epitaph that would go on the headstone of one of the crew
Links to the Curriculum
Place and Enviroment
People's interaction with places and the envronment;
Resources and Environment
Give examples of different ways in which people use the same places
and enviroments |
