tender vows our last sad kiss delayed!
To him we turned:--we had no other aid:
Like one revived, upon his neck I wept;
And her whom he had loved in joy, he said,
He well could love in grief; his faith he kept; 260
And in a quiet home once more my father slept.

XXX

"We lived in peace and comfort; and were blest
With daily bread, by constant toil supplied. [22]
Three lovely babes had lain upon my breast; [23]
And often, viewing their sweet smiles, I sighed, 265
And knew not why. My happy father died,
When threatened war [24] reduced the children's meal:
Thrice happy! that for him the grave could hide [25]
The empty loom, cold hearth, and silent wheel,
And tears that [26] flowed for ills which patience might [27] 270
not heal.

XXXI

"'Twas a hard change; an evil time was come;
We had no hope, and no relief could gain:
But soon, with proud parade, [28] the noisy drum
Beat round to clear [29] the streets of want and pain.
My husband's arms now only served to strain 275
Me and his children hungering in his view;
In such dismay my prayers and tears were vain:
To join those miserable men he flew,
And now to the sea-coast, with numbers more, we drew.

XXXII

"There were we long neglected, and we bore 280
Much sorrow ere the fleet its anchor weighed [30]
Green fields before us, and our native shore,
We breathed a pestilential air, that made
Ravage for which no knell was heard. We prayed
For our departure; wished and wished--nor knew, 285
'Mid that long sickness and those hopes delayed, [31]
That happier days we never more must view.
The parting signal streamed--at last the land withdrew.

XXXIII

"But the calm summer season now was past. [32]
On as we drove, the equinoctial deep 290
Ran mountains high before the howling blast,
And many perished in the whirlwind's sweep.
We gazed with terror on their gloomy sleep, [33]
Untaught that soon such anguish must ensue,
Our hopes such harvest of affliction reap, 295
That we the mercy of the waves should rue:
We reached the western world, a poor devoted crew.
[34]

XXXIV

"The pains and plagues that on our heads came down,
Disease and famine, agony and fear,
In wood or wilderness, in camp or town,