When time my once-lov'd memory shall efface,
Some happier maid may take thy Emma's place,
With envious eyes thy partial fondness see,
And hate it for the love thou bore to me:
My dearest Shaw, forgive a woman's fears,
But one word more (I cannot bear thy tears)
Promise-and I will trust thy faithful vow,
(Oft have I tried, and ever found thee true)
That to some distant spot thou wilt remove
This fatal pledge of hapless Emma's love,
Where, safe, thy blandishments it may partake;
And, oh! be tender for its mother's sake:
Wilt thou?-

I know thou wilt-sad silence speaks assent,
And in that pleasing hope thy Emma dies content!'

I, who with more than manly strength have bore
The various ills impos'd by cruel Fate,

Sustain the firmness of my soul no more,
But sink beneath the weight:

Just Heaven! (I cried) from memory's earliest day
No comfort has thy wretched suppliant known,
Misfortune still with unrelenting sway

Has claim'd me for her own.

But O!--in pity to my grief, restore

This only source of bliss; I ask-I ask no more—
Vain hope-the' irrevocable doom is pass'd,
Ev'n now she looks-she sighs her last-
Vainly I strive to stay her fleeting breath,
And, with rebellious heart, protest against her death
When the stern tyrant clos'd her lovely eyes,
How did I rave, untaught to bear the blow!
With impious wish to tear her from the skies,
How curse my fate in bitterness of woe!