I have been told by literary advisers that humorous writing is my particular forte, but I have published this Romance first because I wish to lay the poems before the public in the same rotation as that in which they were composed; reserving the humorous poems for a second volume, as may be seen by the back of the title-page

With these few words of introduction, I now leave the reader to make the acquaintance of one of the silent companions of my night watches; trusting that its perusal may afford pleasure, even as its composition was a source of great comfort and gratification to

SOUTH WEST INDIA DOCKS,

THE AUTHOR.

LONDON,

May 1st, 1874.

CONTENTS.

CANTO I.-SUNSET.-HAROLD.-HAROLD'S SONG.-

ELLEN. THE LOVERS....

PAGE.

CANTO II.-HAROLD'S TALE.-ELLEN'S TALE.-THE

LOVERS.-HAROLD'S EULOGY ON LOVE...

CANTO III.-BERTRAND.-BERTRAND'S ADDRESS TO

THE

LOVERS.-ELLEN'S

ABDUCTION. BER-

TRAND'S FAREWELL TO HAROLD.-BERTRAND'S

DEPARTURE.-CHRISTIANITY

CANTO IV.-ELLEN AT SEA.-AZELA.-BERTRAND

DESCRIBED. HAROLD DISCOVERED.- ELLEN'S

HOME.-PREPARING FOR THE CHASE.-HAROLD'S

16

38

60

...

CANTO V.-ELLEN AT SEA.-"LAND HO!"-MOON-
LIGHT AT SEA. THE ISLAND. - BERTRAND'S
DEPARTURE.-ELLEN IN AZELA'S ISLAND HOME

CANTO VI.-AZELA'S TALE.-BERTRAND'S RETURN.-

THE DEPARTURE OF BERTRAND AND AZELA.

84

106

CANTO VII.-SUNRISE.-HAROLD CRUISING.—“SAIL

Ho!"-THE CHASE.-THE BATTLE.-BERTRAND

AND HAROLD.-BERTRAND WOUNDED.-AZELA'S

DEATH.-THE PRIVATEER CAPTURED.

CANTO VIII.-BERTRAND'S DEATH.-MEETING OF

HAROLD AND ELLEN. -AZELA'S GRAVE.-"HOME-

WARD BOUND!"

PAGE.

129

149

THE PRIVATEER:

A METRICAL ROMANCE.

CANTO THE FIRST.

1

SEE where, in all his evening splendour drest,

The day's great ruler's sinking in the west;
Around his throne his gather'd forces wait,

Reflect his beauty, and increase his state;
Far o'er the waves he sends his golden light,
And tints creation beautifully bright;

The sky above-the sea beneath-displays
One grandly glowing, universal blaze,

Which every moment's deepen'd and increased
By wand'ring sunbeams hast'ning from the east.

Still slowly sinking through the realms of space

Till distant ocean seems to touch his face,

Round his royal form he makes the heaving main
Of liquid fire seem one unbounded plain;

And from the east each ling'ring ray recalls
To give one last bright look before he falls:
As o'er the sky those parting beams are sent,
With loveliest hues tints all the firmament ;—
As o'er the sea those parting beams advance,
Divides the ocean with his fiery glance!
And sets at last, begirt with light sublime,
To gild the waves of many a distant clime.

2

On one fair summer's eve in days of yore
Thus set the sun on Britain's western shore;
The seaward sky still felt his falling pow'r,

And lengthen'd out the ling'ring twilight hour
Till the moon rose, and from the east shone bright;

Exulting in the guidance of the night;

With strength and beauty she was doubly crown'd,

And, unopposed, reign'd ev'rywhere around.