Oh! I bethink me of the time,

When with each airy hope in view,

In triumph to this fervid clime

I bore a flowret nurs'd in dew!

No fears did then my joy reprove,

And it was boundless as my love!

Yet now to strangers I consign

Thy wounded mind, thy feeble health;

A charge more dear than life resign,

To watch a little worldly wealth.

Duty compels me to remain

But oh! how heavy feels the chain!

My dear Maria! smile no more?

This seeming patience makes me wild!

So would'st thou once my peace restore,

When, mourning for our only child,

Each faint appeal was lost in air,

Or turn'd my sadness to despair.

Alas! I only make thee grieve.

And hark! the boat awaits below!

They call aloud! and I must leave,

The tears my folly forc'd to flow.

Oh! had I but the time to prove,

That mine are only fears of love!