She is a frigate tight and brave,
As ever stemm'd the dashing wave;
Her men are all staunch
To their fav'rite launch,
And, when the foe shall meet our fire,
Sooner than strike, we'll all expire,
On board of the Arethusa.
"Twas with the spring fleet she went out,
The English Channel to cruise about,
When four French sail, in shew so stout,
Bore down on the Arethusa :
The fam'd Belle Poule straight a head did lie,
The Arethusa seem'd to fly ;
Not a sheet or a tack
Or a brace did she slack,
Though the Frenchmen laugh'd and thought it
But they knew not a handful of men how tough,
On board of the Arethusa.
On deck five hundred men did dance,
The stoutest they could find in France
We with two hundred did advance
On board of the Arethusa.
Our Captain hail'd the Frenchman—“ Ho !”
The Frenchman he cried out "Hallo!"
“Bear down do you see,
"No, no," says the Frenchman" that can't be."
"Then I must lug you along with me".
Says the saucy Arethusa.
The fight was off the Frenchman's land,
We forc'd them back upon their strand,
We fought till ne'er a stick would stand,
On board of the Arethusa.
And now we've driven the foe on shore,
Never to fight with Britons more ;
Let each take a glass
To his fav'rite lass!
A health to our Captain and Officers true,
And all that belong to the jovial crew,
On board of the Arethusa.
COME, CHACE THAT STARTING TEAR.
COME, chace that starting tear away,
Ere mine to meet it springs;
To-night, at least, to-night be gay,
What e'er to-morrow brings!
Like sun-set gleams, that linger late
When all is dark'ning fast,
Are hours like these we snatch from fate-
The brightest and the last.
To gild our dark'ning life, if Heaven
But this bright hour allow,
Oh, think that this bright hour is given,
In all its splendour now!
Let's live it out-then sink in night,
Like waves that from the shore
One minute swell-are touch'd with light—
Then lost for evermore.
FROM Plymouth in the Vulcan we set sail,
Three hundred was the number of our crew;
We left Old England with a fine brisk gale,
And sighing, bade our girls a long adieu;
For five long months propitious proved the wind,
That swiftly bore us o'er the billowy main,
Thus all went cheerily for fate was kind-
Each thought to see his native land again.
Now mark the change! 'twas midnight, and the blast In fury drove us o'er the foaming flood,
With blackest horror was the sky o'ercast,
When, lo! the cry was heard that thrill'd our blood; "To work, all hands, to work, she's fir'd below, Secure the gun-room, or wee'r blown on high, Pour on yet faster, let the torrents flow,
For see the curling flames mount to the sky."
"Heave out the boat!" the gallant captain cried, "Let's save, at least, some sturdy hearts and true." The boat was hove, but danger all defied:
"Good captain, we'll not budge, but die with you."
Then down we knelt, and pray'd to Heaven for grace,
"Have mercy on us since all hope is past!"
Each rose, and gave his fellow one embrace,
Then plunging 'mid the billows, sought his last.
To splinsters was the vessel instant blown,
The crash still added to the tempest's roar !
I saw my messmates struggling, heard them groan,
While clinging to a plank, I gain'd the shore.
Thus of three huudred, I alone am left
To tell our hopes, our fears, and perils dire,
To paint a seaman's anguish, when bereft
Óf friends and messmates, by consuming fire.
"ALL hands unmoor," proclaims a cry,
"All hands unmoor," the rocks reply;
Rous'd upon deck, the sailors swarm,
And lovers soon the windlass arm,
Reluctant from its oozy cave,
The anchor rises from the wave;
On slipp'ry masts the yards ascend,
And high the canvass wings extend,
Whilst o'er the bosom of the faithless tides,
In silent pomp, the cumb'rous vessel glides.
But see, now borne before the blast,
Clouds roll on clouds, the moon o'ercast,
The glaring orb condens'd with hạze,
Emits around a sanguine blaze;
The ocean curls, the winds arise,
The scud in quick succession flies;
A storm, deep low'ring, blots the sky,
"Reef top-sails, reef," is now the
"So, steady meet her, watch the blast behind, And steer her right before the seas and wind.
Now wing'd with ruin from on high,
Thro' the rent clouds the light'nings fly;
A piteous groan is heard behind,
A flash has struck the helmsman blind:
A billow with tremendous roll,
To ruin seems to doom the whole;
While from the yard, oh! dire to tell,
Three sailors to the ocean fell;
High o'er their heads the rolling billows sweep,
And down they sink to everlasting sleep.
As o'er the surge the mainmast hung,
The seamen on the rigging clung,
While yet they hug the floating mast,
Or to the cordage grapple fast,
Their wives and children-nature's chain
Tug at their hearts, with pow'rful strain;
Now on the waves on high they ride,
Then downward plunge beneath the tide :
The hostile waters close around the brave,
And
prove the ocean is the seaman's grave,
"You are old, Father William !" the young man eried, "The few locks that are left you are grey:
You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man,
Now tell me the reason, I pray?"
"In the days of my youth," Father William replied,
"I remembered that youth would fly fast:
And abused not my health and my vigour at first,
That I never might need them at last.'
"You are old, Father William," the young man cried, "And pleasures with youth pass away,
And yet you lament not the days that are gone;
Now tell me the reason, I pray?"
"In the days of my youth," Father William replied,
"I remembered that youth could not last;
I thought of the future, whatever I did,
That I never might grieve for the past."
"You are old, Father William!" the young man cried, "And life must be hastening away:
You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death,
Now tell me the reason I
"I am cheerful, young man," Father William replied; "Let the cause thy attention engage : In the days of my youth I remembered my God, And he has not forgotten my age!"
A KNIGHT and a Lady once met in a grove,
While each was in quest of a fugitive love;
A river ran mournfully murmuring by,
And they wept in the waters for sympathy.
"Oh never a Knight such a sorrow ere bore!"
"Oh never was maid so deserted before!
From life and its woes let us instantly fly,
And jump in together for company.'
They search'd for an addy that suited the deed,
But here was a bramble, and there was a weed;
"How tiresome it is," said the fair with a sigh:
So they sat down to rest in company.
They gaz'd on each other, the Maid and the Knight;
How fair was her face, how goodly his height:
"One mournful embrace," sobb'd the youth," ere
we die."
So sighing and crying kept company.
"O had I but lov'd such an angel as you!"
"O had but my swain been a quarter as true !"
"To miss such perfection how blinded was I !”
Sure now they were excellent company.
At length spoke the lass 'twixt a smile and a tear,
"The weather is cold for a watery bier;
When the summer returns we may easily die,~
Till then let us sorrow in company."
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