Huzza! Hodgson, we are going,
\nOur embargo’s off at last;
\nFavourable breezes blowing
\nBend the canvass o’er the mast.
\nFrom aloft the signal’s streaming,
\nHark! the farewell gun is fir’d;
\nWomen screeching, tars blaspheming,
\nTell us that our time’s expir’d.
\nHere’s a rascal
\nCome to task all,
\nPrying from the custom-house;
\nTrunks unpacking
\nCases cracking,
\nNot a corner for a mouse
\n‘Scapes unsearch’d amid the racket,
\nEre we sail on board the Packet.<\/p>\n
Now our boatmen quit their mooring,
\nAnd all hands must ply the oar;
\nBaggage from the quay is lowering,
\nWe’re impatient–push from shore.
\n“Have a care! that case holds liquor–
\nStop the boat–I’m sick–oh Lord!”
\n“Sick, ma’am, damme, you’ll be sicker,
\nEre you’ve been an hour on board.”
\nThus are screaming
\nMen and women,
\nGemmen, ladies, servants, Jacks;
\nHere entangling,
\nAll are wrangling,
\nStuck together close as wax.–
\nSuch the genial noise and racket,
\nEre we reach the Lisbon Packet.<\/p>\n
Now we’ve reach’d her, lo! the captain,
\nGallant Kidd, commands the crew;
\nPassengers their berths are clapt in,
\nSome to grumble, some to spew.
\n“Hey day! call you that a cabin?
\nWhy ‘t is hardly three feet square;
\nNot enough to stow Queen Mab in–
\nWho the deuce can harbour there?”
\n“Who, sir? plenty–
\nNobles twenty
\nDid at once my vessel fill.”
\n“Did they? Jesus,
\nHow you squeeze us!
\nWould to God they did so still:
\nThen I’d ‘scape the heat and racket
\nOf the good ship, Lisbon Packet.”<\/p>\n
Fletcher! Murray! Bob! where are you?
\nStretch’d along the deck like logs–
\nBear a hand, you jolly tar, you!
\nHere’s a rope’s end for the dogs.
\nHobhouse muttering fearful curses,
\nAs the hatchway down he rolls,
\nNow his breakfast, now his verses,
\nVomits forth–and damns our souls.
\n“Here’s a stanza
\nOn Braganza–
\nHelp!”–“A couplet?”–“No, a cup
\nOf warm water–”
\n“What’s the matter?”
\n“Zounds! my liver’s coming up;
\nI shall not survive the racket
\nOf this brutal Lisbon Packet.”<\/p>\n
Now at length we’re off for Turkey,
\nLord knows when we shall come back!
\nBreezes foul and tempests murky
\nMay unship us in a crack.
\nBut, since life at most a jest is,
\nAs philosophers allow,
\nStill to laugh by far the best is,
\nThen laugh on–as I do now.
\nLaugh at all things,
\nGreat and small things,
\nSick or well, at sea or shore;
\nWhile we’re quaffing,
\nLet’s have laughing–
\nWho the devil cares for more?–
\nSome good wine! and who would lack it,
\nEv’n on board the Lisbon Packet?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Huzza! Hodgson, we are going, Our embargo’s off at last; Favourable breezes blowing Bend the canvass o’er the mast. From aloft the signal’s streaming, Hark! the farewell gun is fir’d; Women screeching, tars blaspheming, Tell us that our time’s expir’d. Here’s a rascal Come to task all, Prying from the custom-house; Trunks unpacking Cases cracking, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}