Ben Jonson: On My First Daughter

On My First Daughter
by Ben Jonson

Here lies, to each her parents' ruth,
Mary, the daughter of their youth;
Yet all heaven's gifts being heaven's due,
It makes the father less to rue.
At six months' end, she parted hence
With safety of her innocence;
Whose soul heaven's queen, whose name she bears,
In comfort of her mother's tears,
Hath placed amongst her virgin-train:
Where, while that severed doth remain,
This grave partakes the fleshly birth;
Which cover lightly, gentle earth!

Statue of a sleeping angel.
Galleria degli Uffizi.
©1999 A. Jokinen.

Source:
Maclean, Hugh. Ben Jonson and the Cavalier Poets.
New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1974. 7.

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