BLACK-EYED SUSAN.

My master and the neighbors all
Make game of me and Sally,
And but for her I'd better be

A slave, and row a galley;

But when my seven long years are out,
O then I'll marry Sally!

O then we'll wed, and then we'll bed—
But not in our alley!

Harry Carey.

BLACK-EYED SUSAN.

ALL in the Downs the fleet was moor'd,
The streamers waving in the wind,
When black-eyed Susan came on board,
"Oh, where shall I my true-love find?
Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?"

William, who high upon the yard

Rock'd by the billows to and fro,
Soon as the well-known voice he heard,
He sigh'd and cast his eyes below;

The cord flies swiftly through his glowing hands,
And, quick as lightning, on the deck he stands.

So the sweet lark, high poised in air,
Shuts close his pinions to his breast
If chance his mate's shrill call he hear,
And drops at once into her nest:-
The noblest captain in the British fleet
Might envy William's lip those kisses sweet.

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BLACK-EYED SUSAN.

"O Susan, Susan, lovely dear,

My vows shall ever true remain;
Let me kiss off that falling tear;

We only part to meet again.

Change as ye list, ye winds; my heart shall be
The faithful compass that still points to thee.

"Believe not what the landsmen say

Who tempt with doubts thy constant mind:
They'll tell thee, sailors, when away,
In every port a mistress find:

Yes, yes, believe them when they tell thee so,
For Thou art present wheresoe'er I go."

The boatswain gave the dreadful word,
The sails their swelling bosom spread;
No longer must she stay aboard;

They kiss'd, she sigh'd, he hung his head.
Her lessening boat unwilling rows to land;
"Adieu!" she cries; and waves her lily hand.

F. Gay.

Elder Poets.

YE GENTLEMEN OF ENGLAND.

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YE GENTLEMEN OF ENGLAND.

YE gentlemen of England
That live at home at ease,
Ah! little do you think upon
The dangers of the seas.
Give ear unto the mariners,
And they will plainly shew
All the cares and the fears

When the stormy winds do blow.

If enemies oppose us

When England is at war

With any foreign nation,

We fear not wound or scar;
Our roaring guns shall teach 'em
Our valour for to know,

Whilst they reel on the keel,

And the stormy winds do blow.

Then courage, all brave mariners,
And never be dismay'd;
While we have bold adventurers,
We ne'er shall want a trade:
Our merchants will employ us
To fetch them wealth, we know;
Then be bold-work for gold,
When the stormy winds do blow.

Martyn Parker.

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TO ALL YOU LADIES NOW ON LAND.

TO ALL YOU LADIES NOW ON LAND.

To all you ladies now on land,
We men at sea indite;

But first would have you understand
How hard it is to write:

The muses now, and Neptune, too,

We must implore to write to you.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

For though the muses should prove kind,
And fill our empty brain;

Yet if rough Neptune rouse the wind,
To wave the azure main,

Our paper, pen, and ink, and we,

Roll up and down in ships at sea.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

Then if we write not by each post,
Think not we are unkind;

Nor yet conclude our ships are lost
By Dutchmen or by wind:

Our tears we'll send a speedier way--
The tide shall bring them twice a day.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

TO ALL YOU LADIES NOW ON LAND.

The king, with wonder and surprise,

Will swear the seas grow bold;
Because the tides will higher rise
Than e'er they did of old:
But let him know it is our tears
Bring floods of grief to Whitehall-stairs.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

Should foggy Opdam chance to know
Our sad and dismal story,

The Dutch would scorn so weak a foe,
And quit their fort at Goree:

For what resistance can they find

From men who've left their hearts behind?
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

Let wind and weather do its worst,

Be ye to us but kind;

Let Dutchmen vapour, Spaniards curse,
No sorrow shall we find:

'Tis then no matter how things go,

Or who's our friend, or who's our foe.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

To pass our tedious hours away,
We throw a merry main,

Or else at serious ombre play;

But why should we in vain
Each other's ruin thus pursue?
We were undone when we left you.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

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