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Translated by John Oxenford
ADIEU, beloved France, adieu, | |
| Thou ever wilt be dear to me. | |
| Land which my happy childhood knew, | |
| I feel I die, in quitting thee. | |
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| Thou wert the country of my choice, | 5 |
| I leave thee, loving thee alone; | |
| Ah! hear the exile’s parting voice, | |
| And think of her when she is gone. | |
| The breeze about the vessel plays, | |
| We leave the coast,—I weep in vain, | 10 |
| For God the billows will not raise, | |
| To cast me on thy shore again. | |
| Adieu, beloved France, etc. | |
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| When on my brow the lilies bright | |
| Before admiring throngs I wore, | 15 |
| ’T was not my state that charmed their sight, | |
| They loved my youthful beauty more. | |
| Although the Scot with sombre mien | |
| Gives me a crown, I still repine; | |
| I only wished to be a queen, | 20 |
| Ye sons of France, to call you mine. | |
| Adieu, beloved France, etc. | |
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| Love, glory, genius crowded round, | |
| My youthful spirit to elate; | |
| On Caledonia’s rugged ground, | 25 |
| Ah! changed indeed will be my fate. | |
| E’en now terrific omens seem | |
| To threaten ill,—my heart is scared; | |
| I see, as in a hideous dream, | |
| A scaffold for my death prepared. | 30 |
| Adieu, beloved France, etc. | |
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| France, from amid the countless fears | |
| The Stuart’s hapless child may feel, | |
| E’en as she now looks through her tears, | |
| So will her glances seek thee still. | 35 |
| Alas! the ship too swiftly sails, | |
| O’er me are spreading other skies, | |
| And night with humid mantle veils | |
| Thy fading coast from these sad eyes. | |
| Adieu, beloved France, etc. | 40 |
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