Works

Queeney and I, and our constant Companions Gabriel & Crutchley live on very comfortable Terms however; I really think the increasing Tenderness in both perfectly discernible: my Italian¹ is going to his own Country for a while; to see his Friends, to fondle his Mother, & Family, and return hither with a gallant Singing Woman that shall fright Pacchierotti & all his Party: He sung me a pretty Song t'other day-a Venetian Partenza² I could not help translating it; or rather imitating it, for the Ballad is a Mile long in the Original.

1.

The fatal Moment is arriv'd
When of each tender hope depriv'd;
I come to take my last Adieu,
Of Love and Happiness and You.

2.

No longer on your Steps t'attend
A welcome warm and faithful Friend;
But forc'd from Delia³ far to stray
And waste in worthless Cares the Day.

3.

At once Farewell! those Tears restrain,
Which make my Pleasure and my Pain;
Your Tenderness too late they prove,
And swell my Soul with hopeless Love.

4.

By cruel Stars condemn'd to part,
Accept in change my faithful heart;
In which whilst any Pulse remains,
Or any Vigour fills my Veins:

5.

Each Sentiment I feel for You
No Pow'r on Earth shall e'er subdue;
Nor future Beauty's fairest Face
Obliterate my Delia's³ Grace.

Footnotes

1. Gabriel Piozzi.↩︎
2. Venetian Partenza, also known as the Marriage to the Sea, was a centuries-old ceremony held in Venice on the Feast of the Assumption every year from the early 14th century until 1798. The central event of the ceremony was the Doge of Venice sailing out into the Adriatic Sea on a lavishly decorated ship called the Bucentaur (Bucintoro), to symbolically marry the sea..↩︎
3. Delia is a fictional character created by Hester. She is a symbol of everything that Thrale hates: she is beautiful, intelligent, and successful. Thrale uses Delia as a foil to compare himself to, and to highlight his own flaws and insecurities.↩︎