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Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems

by the late Thomas Haynes Bayly; Edited by his Widow. With A Memoir of the Author. In Two Volumes
Bayly, Thomas Haynes (1797-1839)
1 occurrence of neglected child
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VOL I.
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[VOLUME TWO]
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POEMS.
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FASHIONABLE ECLOGUES.
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LUNATIC LAYS.
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WEEDS OF WITCHERY.
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SEASONABLE DITTIES.
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MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
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SONGS AND BALLADS.
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POEMS AND SONGS.
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SONGS OF THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY.
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THE WREATH.
  
WHAT CAN BE THY GRIEF, MY CHILD?
  
ROSE OF AILEEN.
  
THE TIDE IS EBBING FAST, MY CHILD.
  
THE SELF-DEVOTED NUN.
  
TELL ME NOT OF HOARDED GOLD.
  
WITHER AWAY.
  
OH! REST MY DUENNA.
  
THE SONG OF GULNARE.
  
OH! REMEMBER THOSE SWEET HOURS.
  
MY OWN CHILD, MY DEAR CHILD.
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1 occurrence of neglected child
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THE TIDE IS EBBING FAST, MY CHILD.

I

“The tide is ebbing fast, my child,
Come hither to the shore,
And where the waves recede, we'll keep
Our weary watch once more.
They say thy father's boat was wreck'd—
Nay, child, look not so pale,
As yet no fragments on the sand
Confirm the dreadful tale.
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II

“I dare not move those dark sea weeds,
To see what lies beneath;
At ev'ry step I dread to meet
Some harbinger of death.
But cheer thee, child—the storm abates!
We have no cause to mourn,
For with the morning's flowing tide,
Thy father will return.”

III

The night is gone,—and calmly comes
The ripple of the tide.
The fisher's wife is there—her child
Stands weeping at her side.
“Behold!” the mother cries, “a form
Is floating on the wave!
'Tis he! droop not, for 'tis our task
To bear him to his grave.”
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