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WILLIAM AND NANCY,
A BALLAD.
FOUNDED UPON AN INTERESTING INCIDENT WHICH TOOK PLACE ON THE EMBARKATION OF THE 85TH REGIMENT FOR HOLLAND AT RAMSGATE, AUGUST 10, 1799.
1 AS on the transport's dusky side
2 Young William stood with folded arms,
3 Silent he watch'd the rising tide,
4 The loud wind fill'd him with alarms.
5 Not for himself he knew to fear,
6 But for one dearer far than life;
7 Nancy, in parting doubly dear,
8 His tender bride, his faithful wife.
9 She still had hop'd to share his fate,
10 To sooth him in affliction's hour;
11 On all his wand'ring steps to wait,
12 And give the comfort in her power.
13 But chance denied the wish'd-for prize,
14 The envied lot another drew;
15 Now sorrow dim'd her sleepless eyes,
16 And to despair her sorrow grew.
17 But when the shouting seamen strove
18 To tow the vessel on its way,
19 Wak'd from despair by anxious love,
20 She rush'd along the crowded quay.
21 The sails unfurl'd, as gliding round,
22 The parting cheers still louder grew,
23 She flew, and with a fearful bound
24 Drop'd in her William's arms below.
Source edition
Hunter, Anne Home (Mrs. John), 1742-1821. Poems, by Mrs. John Hunter. London: Printed for T. Payne, Mews Gate, by T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, 1802, pp. 81-82. (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [280 e.4058].)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Anne Hunter (née Home)
- ADDRESSED TO MRS. G. OF THE PRIORY, CORNWALL. ()
- A BALLAD OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. ()
- [BIRTHDAY ODE] TO MY SON AT SCHOOL, AGED 13, JUNE 11. ()
- [BIRTHDAY ODE] TO THE SAME, AGED 15, AT CAMBRIDGE. ()
- [BIRTHDAY ODE] TO THE SAME, AGED 23, A LIEUTENANT IN THE ARMY, THEN WITH HIS REGIMENT IN CORSICA, 1793. ()
- [BIRTHDAY ODE] TO THE SAME, AGED 26, A CAPTAIN OF INFANTRY IN PORTUGAL, 1798. ()
- CARISBROOK CASTLE, A POEM, WITH NOTES. ()
- THE DEATH SONG, WRITTEN FOR, AND ADAPTED TO, AN ORIGINAL INDIAN AIR. ()
- THE DIRGE OF AMORET. ()
- ELEGY TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM SEWARD, ESQ. WHO DIED APRIL 24, 1799. ()
- ELEGY. ()
- EPITAPH FOR MY FATHER. ()
- FAIRY REVELS, A SONG. ()
- THE FAREWELL, A SONG. ()
- THE GENIUS OF THE MOUNTAINS OF BALAGATA, IN THE EAST INDIES, BEWAILS THE MISERIES BOUGHT UPON HIS COUNTRY. ()
- LA DOUCE CHIMERE. ()
- THE LAMENTATION OF MARY STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS, ADAPTED TO A VERY ANCIENT SCOTTISH AIR, SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN HER OWN COMPOSITION. ()
- LAURA TO PETRARCH. ()
- LAURA. ()
- LELIA; OR, THE MANIAC'S SONG. ()
- MAY DAY. ()
- A MERMAID'S SONG. ()
- NOVEMBER, 1784. ()
- ODE TO CONDUIT VALE, BLACKHEATH. ()
- ODE TO THE OLD YEAR, 1787. ()
- REMEMBRANCE, A SONG. ()
- THE ROUNDELAY. ()
- THE SONG AT MARIA'S GRAVE. IN TWO PARTS. ()
- THE SONG OF THE WANDERING LADY, FOUNDED ON A TRUE STORY. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONNET, AFTER THE DEATH OF LAURA. ()
- THE SPIRIT'S SONG. ()
- TIME. ()
- TO A FRIEND ON NEW YEAR'S DAY. ()
- TO JAMES BARRY, ESQ. ON THE DESIGN OF HIS SERIES OF PICTURES PAINTED FOR THE SOCIETY INSTITUTED FOR THE PROMOTING ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. ()
- TO Mrs. DELAINY, UPON THE MARKS OF ROYAL BOUNTY WHICH SHE RECEIVED AT A VERY ADVANCED AGE, AFTER THE DEATH OF HER FRIEND THE DUCHESS OF PORTLAND, IN 1786. ()
- TO MY DAUGHTER, ON BEING SEPARATED FROM HER ON HER MARRIAGE ()
- TO THE MEMORY OF A LOVELY INFANT, WRITTEN SEVEN YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH. ()
- TO THE MEMORY OF THOMAS CHATTERTON. ()
- TO THE NIGHTINGALE. ()
- A VOW TO FORTUNE. ()
- WINTER, A SONNET. ()