by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637)

Weep with me all you that read
Language: English 
Our translations:  FRE
Weep with me all [you]1 that read
  This little story;
And know, for whom a tear you shed
  Death's self is sorry.
'Twas a child that so did thrive
  In grace and feature,
As Heaven and Nature seem'd to strive
  Which own'd the creature.
Years he number'd scarce thirteen
  When Fates turn'd cruel,
Yet three fill'd zodiacs had he been
  The stage's jewel;
And did act (what now we moan)
  Old men so duly,
As sooth the Parcæ thought him one,
  He play'd so truly.
So, by error, to his fate
  They all consented;
But, viewing him since, alas, too late!
  They have repented;
And have sought, to give new birth,
  In baths to steep him;
But, being so much too good for earth,
  Heaven vows to keep him.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   W. Browne 

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View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray. Vol. XL. The Harvard Classics, New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14.

1 Browne: "ye"

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (Tim Palmer) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 130