Lyric Poem · Sad

An Epitaph On A Child Of Queen Elizabeth's Chapel

by Ben Jonson

Reading room

1Weep with me, all you that read

2This little story;

3And know, for whom a tear you shed

4Death's self is sorry.

5'Twas a child that so did thrive

6In grace and feature,

7As heaven and nature seemed to strive

8Which owned the creature.

9Years he numbered scarce thirteen

10When fates turned cruel,

11Yet three filled zodiacs had be been

12The stage's jewel;

13And did act what now we moan,

14Old men so duly,

15As, sooth, the parcae thought him one,

16He played so truly.

17So by error, so his fate

18They all consented;

19But viewing him since, alas too late,

20They have repented,

21And have sought to give new birth,

22In baths to steep him;

23But being so much too good for earth,

24Heaven vows to keep him.

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“An Epitaph On A Child Of Queen Elizabeth's Chapel” by Ben Jonson — quilloak.com/poems/an-epitaph-on-a-child-of-queen-elizabeths-chapel

Quick facts

Poem: An Epitaph On A Child Of Queen Elizabeth's Chapel
Poet: Ben Jonson
Length: 24 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Sad, Death & Loss, Childhood

Craft notes

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Shape: 24 lines · 3 octaves

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Author record: Ben Jonson1572–1637
Source record: PoetryDBAn Epitaph On A Child Of Queen Elizabeth's Chapel by ben-jonson, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 5b967fbbe2fae092…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Sad Death & Loss Childhood

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