COPIED FROM A PRINT OF THE VIRGIN IN A CATHOLIC VILLAGE IN GERMANY
Dormi, Jesu! Mater ridet
Quæ tarn dulcem somnum videt,
Dormi, Jesu! blandule!
Si non dormis, Mater plorat,
Inter fila cantans orat,
Blande, veni, somnule.
ENGLISH
Sleep, sweet babe! my cares beguiling:
Mother sits beside thee smiling;
Sleep, my darling, tenderly!
If thou sleep not, mother mourneth,
Singing as her wheel she turneth:
Come, soft slumber, balmily!
1811.
EPITAPH ON AN INFANT
Ere Sin could blight or Sorrow fade,
Death came with friendly care;
The opening bud to Heaven conveyed,
And bade it blossom there.
1794.
ON AN INFANT WHICH DIED BEFORE BAPTISM
"Be, rather than be call'd, a child of God,"
Death whisper'd!—with assenting nod,
Its head upon its mother's breast,
The Baby bow'd, without demur—
Of the kingdom of the Blest
Possessor, not inheritor.