1804.2
ADIEUX from the wife of a French officer of dragoons,
on his quitting Rotterdam to join the army of Italy
"A. B."
The Hull Packet (January 31, 1804)[1]

Adieu, dear spouse; you quit your native walls,
For foreign climes, as pressing duty calls;
The sun now shines on MAES'S willow'd shore,
Those banks which you perchance may see no more;
Yet here you leave a tender faithful friend,
Whose thoughts shall still on your remembrance bend,
Whose vows shall ever be to heaven addrest,
For your return, with health and fortune blest;
O may th' ETERNAL grant my fond desire,
While I his justice awfully admire,
Yes—I dare hope he'll hear my earnest prayer,
And you the favours due to merit share;
But while just heaven its bounties does impart,
Remember still the partner of your heart.

Notes

1. The poem appears with the headnote that it is a translation of a poem "found amongst the papers of a French officer, lately brought into Whitby."