Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.

Three Epitaphs upon the Death of a Rare Child of Six Years Old

Francis Davison (1575?–1619?)

WIT’S perfection, Beauty’s wonder,

Nature’s pride, the Graces’ treasure,

Virtue’s hope, his friends’ sole pleasure,

This small marble stone lies under;

Which is often moist with tears

For such loss in such young years.

Lovely boy! thou art not dead,

But from earth to heaven fled;

For base earth was far unfit

For thy beauty, grace, and wit.

Thou alive on earth, sweet boy

Hadst an angel’s wit and face;

And now dead thou dost enjoy,

In high Heaven, an angel’s place.