The cairn

Chapter 21: On a new-born Child—Sir W. Jones.

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About This Book

A compact miscellany of short essays, anecdotes, prayers, poems, and biographical sketches that collects reflections on grief, maternal love, benevolence, virtue, taste, and historical episodes. The pieces alternate personal memories, moral aphorisms, humorous and touching anecdotes, and brief portraits of public figures, often framed as letters, epitaphs, or short narratives. Recurring themes include the effects of sorrow and joy, domestic affection, charity, the vicissitudes of fortune, and the consolations of faith and art. The tone moves between intimate recollection and light moralizing, presenting varied, self-contained vignettes meant to instruct, console, and amuse.

On a new-born Child—Sir W. Jones.

On a new-born child.

From the Persian by Sir William Jones.

On Parent knee, a naked new-born child,

Weeping thou sat’st, whilst all around thee smil’d,

So live, that sinking in thy last long sleep,

Pleas’d thou may’st smile, whilst all around thee weep.