Taking with them what they could.
As via the Thames escapes were made,
The boatmen did a roaring trade.
Looters prowled, to try to find
Things of value, left behind.
Samuel Pepys informed the king,
And then recorded everything:
What people did, all matters fiery
Were noted down in that man's diary.
Four days on, the wind had dropped.
The fire-breaks worked; the flames were stopped.
A population, devastated,
Returned to find their homes cremated.
It's claimed that half a dozen died:
Just six, who were identified.
Not everyone was fit to run:
What could the sick and weak have done?
It's likely unnamed dozens must
Have been reduced to ash and dust,
In time to form a human silt
On which the modern London's built.
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| Samuel Pepys |
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