Loyal Constancy; Or, The Seamans Love-Letter:
Written by John Blay on Board the Henry and Elizabeth riding at Leghorn, to his
Dear Mistris Mary Foart, now living near Wapping, exhorting her to continue
in her wonted love and constancy according to their mutual promises past be-
tween them, in order to their happy Union and Marriage, as soon as he shall
return from this Voyage to England.
Tune of, Cloris full of harmless thoughts; Jenny Gin. The fair one let me in.
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TIll from Leghorn I do return,
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stil I constant to me prove;
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Let none impart, or share thy heart,
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but only me thy love;
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Let no brisk Boy thy love injoy,
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or rob me of my, treasure;
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But may we kiss injoying bliss,
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possest of earthly pleasure.
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Ah charming fair one of my heart,
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how wretched now am I;
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Since from thee I am forcd to part,
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and leave felicity:
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All night I lye, I sigh and groan,
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still thinking of the bliss;
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We oft times have injoyd alone,
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with smile and amorous kiss.
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When night grows dark, I steer my Bark,
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to loves long-wisht for Port;
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But still I find the winds unkind,
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I cannot reach the Fort;
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Tempestuous waves my heart inslaves
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my troubled Bark does roul;
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Nothing I see, unlesst be thee,
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can ease my troubled soul.
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With serious thoughts I spend my hours,
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still thinking of your charms,
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Till sleep my drowsie sence ore-powers,
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and brings thee to my arms;
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Where in a Dream I thee imbrace,
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and think the worlds my own,
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But when I wake, O then alas,
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my earthly joy is gone.
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With early look, when day appears,
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I rouse me up from sleep;
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I find my Pillow strewd with tears,
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your absence causd me weep:
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Thus never shall I be at ease,
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till like two Turtles we
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May still be Billing when we please,
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and live at liberty.
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Ah Mary Foart thou lovely Maid,
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writ in my heart most dear;
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May storms and tempests me invade,
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when Mary is not there:
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Though London youths do seek the prize,
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to take and bare away;
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Yet she thats vertuous, chaste, and wise,
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will own her Love
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John Bay.
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Vertue the Reward of Constancy; Or, Mrs. Mary Foarts Love-Letter and An-
swer to her dear heart John Blay at Leghorn:
Wherein she protests her constancy and happiness in the injoyment of his love; which
she writ to him in Verse, as his was to her: and showing the same to a Friend of
hers for his approbation, he caused both the Letter and the Answer to be publishd
to vindicate the Maids honour and constancy, which some sly young-men living
near, had endeavoured to traduce, and by that means to break off the match, which
they had designed otherways. To the same Tune.
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Her Answer.
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MY dear to thee ile surely be
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as chast as Ice or snow;
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Ile wast the nights in our delights,
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till Nilus over-flow:
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Let not Spains beauty gain thy duty,
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nor win thee by her charms;
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But may I still, spight of all ill,
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imbrace thee in my arms.
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In shady Grove made fit for love,
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I sit and waste my hours,
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Sigh and cry tears from my eye,
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distill like Pearly showres.
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Nor can I rest, till I am blest,
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with thee whom I esteem,
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Though fancy may my griefs betray,
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theres nothing in a Dream.
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Like one in chains, torturd with pains,
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I dayly rave and tear,
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Fearing some wave might be a Grave,
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for to inclose my Dear;
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Not all the Gods that rules the Seas,
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if I once see thy face,
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Shall me betray, or bear away
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my love from my imbrace.
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May Boreas be once kind to me,
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fill every troubled Sail,
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May Merchants leap, and Seamen skip,
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since love does now prevail:
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May winds once bear to me my Dear,
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and fix me on thy breast,
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Then shall I be, injoying thee,
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of happiness possest.
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In sweet delights wel spend the nights,
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no storms shall cause us fear;
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Lockt in my arms, guarded from harms,
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I will secure my Dear.
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Then shall I surely be at ease,
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when like two Turtles we,
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May bill and kiss even when we please,
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injoying liberty.
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Remember me my Dear John Blay,
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as I thee on the Shore,
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Let not Italian Dames betray,
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thy heart keep well in store.
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No London youths shall ere persuade
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my love by false report;
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For thee ile live or dye a Maid,
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thy Dear Heart
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Mary Fort.
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