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This commemorative poem, published ten years after the fire, is one of a few retellings
based on nursery rhymes. It indicates how thoroughly familiar and domesticated the story of
Kate O'Leary and her cow had become. The last several lines of this cumulative poem
(recalling "The House that Jack Built") read:
As in growth, so in greatness may she [Chicago] excel!
Be she true to mankind! Let her gratefully dwell
On the days when the World's Gifts poured pell-mell,
By rail and river and ocean's swell,
For those who had left their Homes so cheery,
Wrapped in the flames from that Hovel dreary,
That sheltered the famous Mrs. O'Leary,
That milked the cow forlorn and weary,
That kicked the Lamp, that started the
Fire, that burned the City.
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The Saga Continues 