THE
Valiant Soldiers last Farewell:
OR,
His dying Letter to his Loving Lady Lucretia.
To the Tune of What shall I do to show how much I love her.
Licensed according to order.
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FArewell Lucretia my amorous Jewel,
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this dying Letter in Sorrow I send;
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Fortune hath prove[d] unconstant nay cruel,
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bringing my Glory and Days to an end:
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I that have ventur'd through smoke, flame and fire,
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the Kingdom's Honour and Rights to regain,
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Am ready now at the length to expire,
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alive thou ne'er wilt behold me again.
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With mournfull Friends I am ever surrounded,
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whose Eyes like Fountains doth flow night and day,
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Seeing their Leader so fatally wounded,
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that in this Life I no longer can stay;
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Therefore farewell, for alas! I must leave thee,
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but a Folly to sigh and complain;
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Let not this sorrowfull Letter e'er grieve thee,
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alive thou ne'er wilt behold me again.
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My Loyal Duty was never neglected,
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the War with Courage I still did pursue;
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Honour was all the Reward I expected,
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for the hard Service I ever went through:
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'Twas for the good of King, Queen, and Nation,
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that I did fight on the wide Ocean Main,
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But now I languish without expectation
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ever alive to behold thee again.
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France my true Courage could never keep under,
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though two to one, we show'd them fair play;
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While the great Cannons were roaring like Thunder
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I was the while in the midst of the Fray;
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Yet I acknowledge it was but my Duty,
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the Nations Honour and Rights to maintain;
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But now Farewell my sweet amorous Beauty,
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alive I ne'er shall behold thee again.
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Foes I have fought with, but never fear'd any,
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but with true Courage did always appear,
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And might I still be endu'd with as many
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Lives, as there's hours and days in the year,
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They should be all at King Williams Devotion,
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to fight his Enemies on the soft Main;
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I'd venture still for the Kingdom's promotion,
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though I might never behold thee again.
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Lady, I fall by the hand of a Tory,
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who is the Actor of all Villany;
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Yet let me tell thee, I triumph and glory,
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that in the Bed of True Honour I die:
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Therefore, my Dearest, let nothing offend thee,
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many brave Soldiers beside me are slain;
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May all the Blessings of Heaven attend thee,
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altho' I never behold thee again.
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When the kind Waves shall be pleas'd to convey me,
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over the Ocean to my Native shore,
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And near thy Lodgings, sweet Lady, shall lay me,
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not thy Tears that my Life can restore;
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Therefore I'd have thee be void of all Passion,
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seeing all sorrowfull Sighs are in vain,
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My Life I lost for the good of the Nation;
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therefore alive thou'lt ne'er see me again.
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