ON THE EVE OF DEPARTURE From O — (Mary) Matilda Betham Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T143264 Betham, Mary Matilda, 1776-1852. Elegies and Other Small Poems, by Matilda Betham. Ipswich Printed by W. Burrell, and sold by Longman, Paternoster-Row, and Jermyn and Forster, Ipswich 1797 pp. [88]-90.

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ON THE EVE OF DEPARTURE From O — LOUD beats the rain ! The hollow groan Of rushing winds I hear , That with a deep and sullen moan , Pass slowly by the ear . Soon will my dying fire refuse To yield a cheerful ray , Yet , shivering still I sit and muse The latest spark away . Ah , what a night ! the chilly air Bids comfort hence depart , While sad repining's clammy wings Cling icy to my heart . To-morrow's dawn may fair arise , And lovely to the view ; The sun with radiance gild the skies , Yet then — I say adieu ! Oh , stay , dear Night , with cautious care , And lingering footsteps move , Though day may be more soft and fair , Not her , but thee , I love . Stay , wild in brow , severe in mien , Stay ! and ward off the foe ; Who , unrelenting smiles serene , Yet tells me I must go . Forsake these hospitable halls , Where Truth and Friendship dwell , To these high towers and ancient walls , Pronounce a long farewell . Alas ! will Time's rapacious hand , These golden days restore ? Or will he suffer me to taste These golden days no more ? Will he permit that here again , I turn my willing feet ? That my glad eyes may here again , The look of kindness meet ? That here I ever may behold , Felicity to dwell , And often have the painful task Of sighing out farewell ? Ah , be it so ! my fears I lose , By hope's sweet visions fed ; And as I fly to seek repose , She flutters round my bed .              Nov. 17 , 1796.