Ye gods above protect the widow,
And with pity look down on me.
Help me, help me out of trouble
And out of all calamity,
For by the death of my brave Parker,
Fortune has prov’d to me unkind;
Tho’ doom’d by law he was to suffer,
I can’t erase him from my mind.

Parker was my lawful husband,
My bosom friend I lov’d so dear;
At the awful moment he was going to suffer
I was not allowed to come near.
In vain I strove, in vain I ask’d,
Three times o’er and o’er again;
But they replied, you must be denied,
You must return on shore again.

First time I attempted my love to see,
I was obliged to go away,
Oppress’d with grief, and broken hearted,
To think that they should me stay.
I thought I saw the yellow flag flying,
A signal for my husband to die,
A gun was fired, as they required,
As the time it did draw nigh.

The boatswain did his best endeavour,
To get me on shore without delay,
When I stood trembling and confounded,
Ready to take his body away.
Though his trembling hand did wave,
As a signal of farewell,
The grief I suffered at this moment,
No heart can paint or tongue can tell.

My fleeting spirit I thought would follow
The soul of him I love most dear,
No friend or neighbour would come nigh me,
For to ease me of my grief and care.
Every moment I thought an hour,
Till the law its course had run,
I wish’d to finish the doleful task
His imprudence had begun.

In the dead of the night ’tis silent,
And all the world are fast asleep,
My trembling heart that knows no comfort
O’er his grave does often weep.
Each lingering minute that passes,
Brings me nearer to that shore
When we shall shine in endless glory
Never to be parted more.

Farewell Parker thou bright genius,
That was once my only pride,
Tho’ parted now it won’t be long,
E’er I’m buried by thy side,
All you that see my tender ditty,
Don’t laugh at me in disdain,
But look down with eye of pity,
For it is my only claim.