The Weeping Widdow.
Or, The sorrowfull Ladies Letter to her beloved Children, mixt with
Prayers and Teares; With a Sad expression concerning the downfall of
her thrice Renowned Husband.
Motto. Unto the Children of my deare Affection,
Deliver this according to direction.
To the tune of, Gerhard.
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YOu Noble
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Lady Muses just in number nine,
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Of power divine,
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assist a Mournfull Woman to Indite
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Melpomeny
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is knowne to have the chiefest Skill,
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Lend me thy Quill,
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and guide my trembling hand whereby to write
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A Letter
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to mine owne sweet Children,
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Wheresoever that they be,
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Dispierced farre
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From me they are,
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whom I shall never see:
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In mid'st
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of Sorrow, Griefe, and Anguish,
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These Lines which here are pen'd,
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To shew the care,
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And love I beare,
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I thus my greeting send.
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I am
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the wofull Widow drown'd in deep despaire,
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This is my share,
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never was womans Grief so great as mine:
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A Husband
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once I had which loved me full deare,
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Many a faire yeare,
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whose sad untimely death makes me repine:
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For whil'st
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that my good Husband lived,
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No Potent under Sun
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Trod such a Race,
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For time and place,
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as he himselfe hath run.
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But by
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his Death I am made Widow,
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My Children Fatherlesse,
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Wherefore I shall
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Unto them all
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[?]
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First to
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my Eldest Son most Nobly borne and bred
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Marke what is said,
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I you advise to take heed whom you trust,
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Beware
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of Jews & Turks, & Barbarous-minded Scots,
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Whose bloody Plots
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have cast your Fathers w[?]
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Let no
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deceitfull tongue insnare you,
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Think on your Fathers fall,
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Whose heart so kind,
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By proofes I find,
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hath quite undone us all.
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Regard
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your Brothers and your Sisters,
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And all your faithfull Friends,
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Beware of those
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That faune and glose
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onely for their owne ends.
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And if
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the power of Heaven your fortunes doth ad-vance,
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That 'tis your chance
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for to enjoy what is your owne by right
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Shew kindnesse
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and forgive your unkind Enemies,
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Which against you rise,
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and strives to overcome you by their migh[t]
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Doe good
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for evill I doe intreat you,
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Gods Word doth will you s[?],
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So shall you be
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From scandalls free,
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wheree're you come or goe;
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Consider
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these your Mothers Sayings,
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and lay them close to heart,
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And surely then,
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[?]
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