This effusion includes the names of every vessel
in the fleet in italics, and of several of the officers.
THE LADIES' ADDRESS TO THE INCONSTANTS.
Written by G. W. Wicksteed.
We saw the Hastings hasting off,
And never made a fuss.
The Malabar's departure waked
No malady in us.
We were not piqued to lose the Pique;
Each lady's heart at ease is,
Altho' the Dees are on the seas,
And gone the Hercules - es.
Our parting with the Andromache
Like Hector's not at all is;
Nor are we Washingtons to seek
To capture a Cornwallis.
And no Charybdis ever caught
Our hearts in passion's whirls;
There's not a girl among us all
Has ever fished for Pearls.
The Vestals with their sacred flame
Were not the sparks we wanted;
We've looked Medeas in the face,
And yet were not enchanted.
But when our dear Inconstants go,
Our grief shall know no bounds,
The dance shall have no joy for us,
The song no merry sounds.
All dismal then shall be the waltz,
The dull quadrille as bad,
And wearily we'll hurry through
The joyless galopade.
We'll gaze upon each changeful cloud
As through the air it skims,
We'll think of fickle fortune's wheel,
And fashion's turns and whims -
Sweet emblems of Inconstancy
In each of these we'll find,
And our Inconstants constantly
We'll fondly bear in mind.
