Menaphon Sephesta's Song to her Child

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Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee,

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When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.

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Mother's wag, pretty boy,

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Father's sorrow, father's joy;

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When thy father first did see

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Such a boy by him and me,

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He was glad, I was woe,

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Fortune changed made him so,

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When he left his pretty boy

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Last his sorrow, first his joy.

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Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee,

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When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.

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Streaming tears that never stint,

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Like pearl-drops from a flint,

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Fell by course from his eyes,

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That one another's place supplies;

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Thus he griev'd in every part,

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Tears of blood fell from his heart,

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When he left his pretty boy,

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Father's sorrow, father's joy.

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Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee,

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When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.

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The wanton smil'd, father wept,

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Mother cried, baby leapt;

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More he crow'd, more he cried,

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Nature could not sorrow hide:

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He must go, he must kiss

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Child and mother, baby bless,

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For he left his pretty boy,

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Father's sorrow, father's joy.

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Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee,

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When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.