They gasped for breath in that dark dungeon cell <br />A hundred and forty six men huddled in black hell <br />In that hole of Fort William eighteen by fourteen <br />The screaming souls realized next morn wouldn't be seen. <br /> <br />Two tiny windows were all there was high up on the wall <br />Slowly passed that night of June hung in deadly lull <br />Water water they wailed their throats were desert dry <br />The summer heat poured in sweats as the tears of their cry. <br /> <br />Two women were among them they were the first to go <br />Suffocated by lack of air their breathing began to slow <br />Was dying Tom's fiancée and he wrung his sweated shirt <br />If could revive his moisture's drop save life of sweetheart. <br /> <br />One by one they collapsed amid the buzz of death's din <br />Begging for a drop of water in despair drinking urine <br />The dead stood on their feet there wasn't a space to fall <br />Survived only forty three men among them Holwell! <br /> <br />In the history it's known as the tragedy of black hole <br />With many riddles still misty the Bengal Nawab's role <br />Account of that summer night the ghastly horror's tale <br />It's now known was exaggerated by Commander Holwell.<br /><br />Pradip Chattopadhyay<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/that-summer-night-in-a-dungeon/
