Behold the Hour.

Falsest of womankind, canst thou declare
All thy fond plighted vows fleeting as air?
To thy new lover hie,

Laugh o'er thy perjury;
Then in thy bosom try

What peace is there!

181

BEHOLD THE HOUR.

TUNE "Oran-Gaoil."

BEHOLD the hour, the boat arrive :
Thou goest, thou darling of my heart!
Sever'd from thee, can I survive?

But fate has will'd, an' we must part.

I'll often greet this surging swell,
Yon distant isle will often hail:

"E'en here I took the last farewell;
There latest mark'd her vanish'd sail."

Along the solitary shore,

While flitting sea-fowl round me cry, Across the rolling, dashing roar,

I'll westward turn my wistful eye : Happy thou Indian grove, I'll say, Where now my Nancy's path may be ! While thro' thy sweets she loves to stray, Oh, tell me, does she muse on me?

FAIR JENNY.

TUNE-"Saw ye my father?"

WHERE are the joys I have met in the morning,
That danc'd to the lark's early song?
Where is the peace that awaited my wand'ring
At evening, the wild woods among?

No more a-winding the course of yon river,
An' marking sweet flow'rets so fair:

No more I trace the light footsteps of pleasure,
But sorrow and sad sighing care.

Is it that summer's forsaken our valleys,
An' grim surly winter is near?

No, no! the bees humming round the gay roses,
Proclaim it the pride of the year.

Fain would I hide what I fear to discover,
Yet long, long too well have I known
All that has caus'd this wreck in my bosom
Is Jenny, fair Jenny alone.

Time cannot aid me, my griefs are immortal,
Nor hope dare a comfort bestow:

Come, then, enamour'd an' fond of my anguish,
Enjoyment I'll seek in my woe.

On the Seas and far away.

183

ON THE SEAS AND FAR AWAY.

TUNE "O'er the hills," &c.

How can my poor heart be glad,
When absent from my sailor lad?
How can I the thought forego,

He's on the seas to meet the foe?
Let me wander, let me rove,

Still my heart is with my love;
Nightly dreams and thoughts by day
Are with him that's far away.

CHORUS.

On the seas and far away,
On stormy seas and far away;
Nightly dreams and thoughts by day
Are aye for him that's far away.

When in summer's noon I faint,
As weary flocks around me pant,
Haply in the scorching sun
My sailor's thundering at his gun:
Bullets, spare my only joy!
Bullets, spare my darling boy!
Fate, do with me what you may,
Spare but him that's far away!

At the starless midnight hour,

When winter rules with boundless power;

N

As the storms the forest tear,
And thunders rend the howling air,
Listening to the doubling roar
Surging on the rocky shore,
All I can-I weep and pray
For his weal that's far away.

Peace, thy olive wand extend,
And bid wild war his ravage end,
Man with brother man to meet,

And as a brother kindly greet:

Then may heaven with prosperous gales

Fill my sailor's welcome sails,

To my arms their charge convey,
My dear lad that's far away.

WAE IS MY HEART.

TUNE-"Wae is my heart."

WAE is my heart, an' the tear's in my e'e;
Lang, lang joy's been a stranger to me:
Forsaken an' friendless, my burden I bear,
An' the sweet voice of pity ne'er sounds in my ear.

Love, thou hast pleasures, an' deep ha'e I lov'd;
Love, thou hast sorrows, an' sair ha'e I prov'd;
But this bruised heart that now bleeds in my breast,
I can feel its throbbings will soon be at rest.

Deluded Swain, the Pleasure.

185

Oh, if I were happy, where happy I ha'e been,
Down by yon stream, an' yon bonnie castle-green;
For there he is wand'ring, an' musing on me,
Wha wad soon dry the tear frae Phillis's e'e.

DELUDED SWAIN, THE PLEASURE.

TUNE-"The collier's dochter."

DELUDED Swain, the pleasure
The fickle fair can give thee
Is but a fairy treasure-

Thy hopes will soon deceive thee.

The billows on the ocean,
The breezes idly roaming,
The clouds' uncertain motion,
They are but types of woman.

Oh! art thou not ashamed
To doat upon a feature?
If man thou wouldst be named,
Despise the silly creature.

Go, find an honest fellow;

Good claret set before thee;
Hold on till thou art mellow,

And then to bed in glory.