On My First Son

Farewell, though child of my right hand, and joy.
My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy;
Seven years thou wert lent to me, and thee I pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
Oh, could I lose all father now,
For why Will man lament the state he should envy? --
To have so soon ‘scaped the world’s and flesh’s rage,
And, if no other misery, yet age. Rest in soft peace, and asked, say,
"Here doth lie Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry,"
For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such
As what he loves may never like too much.

-Ben Jonson