"Alaska, Or Hell Of The Yukon" गीत

The devil in hell, we are told, was chained,
Thousands of years he there remained.
He did not complain nor did he groan,
But determined to have a hell of his own,
Where he could torment the souls of men
Without being chained in a solitary pen.

So he asked the Lord if he had any land
In a colder clime than a poor soul could stand.
The Lord said yes, but it's not much use,
It's cold Alaska, and it is cold as the deuce.
In fact, old boy, the place is bare,
I don't think you could make a good hell there.

The devil said he couldn't see why,
For he sure knew his business and would like to try.
So the bargain was made and the deed was given
And the devil quickly departed from heaven.
We next see the devil far up in the north
Examining Alaska, to see what it is worth.

From the top of McKinley he looked at the truck,
And said, "If I get this for nothing I still am stuck."
But, oh, it was fine to be out in the cold.
The wind blew a gale and the devil grew bold,
And there on the height of the mountain he planned
To make of Alaska the home of the damned-
A different place from the old-fashioned hell
Where each soul burned in an awful hot cell.

He used every means that a wise devil needed
To make a good hell, and he sure succeeded.
He filled the air with millions of gnats
And spread the Yukon over the flats,
And set a line of volcanoes in Yawnamice Pass,
And bred mosquitoes in the dungre grass.

And made six months' night where it's sixty below,
A howling wind and a pelting snow;
Six months' day with a spell now and then
Too hot for the devil, too hot for his men;
Hungry dogs and wolves by the pack
That when they yell send chills down your back.
And when you mush o'er the barren expanse,
The wind blows wicked holes in your pants.

But of all the pests the imps could devise,
The Yukon mosquitoes were the devil's pride.
They're like the rattlesnake's bite or scorpion's sting,
And they measure six inches from wing to wing.
And the devil said when he fashioned these,
"Each one will be worth a million fleas."

And over the mountains, valleys and plains,
Where the dew falls heavy and sometimes rains,
He grew a few flowers and berries, just for a bluff,
For the devil sure knew how to peddle his stuff.
To show how well he knew his game,
The devil next salted his new hell claim,
Put gold nuggets in some of his streams
To lure men on in their hopes and dreams.

He hid them deep in the glacial ice
Like a reformed city hides its vice,
And bid Dame Rumor to spread the news
To all the world and its holy crews
That there was gold in heaps and piles
In all the colours and all the styles.

He grinned a grin, a satisfied grin,
And said, "Now watch the fools rush in.
They will fight for gold and steal and slay,
But in the end it's me they will pay."

Oh, what a fine hell this that the devil owns,
His trails are marked by frozen bones;
The wild wind moans o'er plain, hill and dell,
It's a hell of a place he has his hell.
Now you know, should any one ask you,
What kind of a place is our own Alaska.