The Troops Were Embarked

The troops were all embark'd on board,
The ships were under weigh,
And loving wives, and maids adored,
Were weeping round the bay.

They parted from their dearest friends,
From all their heart desires;
And Rosabel to Heaven commends
The man her soul admires!

For him she fled from soft repose,
Renounced a parent's care;
He sails to crush his country's foes,
She wanders in despair!

A seraph in an infant's frame
Reclined upon her arm;
And sorrow in the lovely dame
Now heighten'd every charm:

She thought, if fortune had but smiled--
She thought upon her dear;
But when she look'd upon his child,
Oh, then ran many a tear!

"Ah! who will watch thee as thou sleep'st?
Who 'll sing a lullaby,
Or rock thy cradle when thou weep'st,
If I should chance to die?"

On board the ship, resign'd to fate,
Yet planning joys to come,
Her love in silent sorrow sate
Upon a broken drum.

He saw her lonely on the beach;
He saw her on the strand;
And far as human eye can reach
He saw her wave her hand!

"O Rosabel! though forced to go,
With thee my soul shall dwell,
And Heaven, who pities human woe,
Will comfort Rosabel!"