| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910. | | | | Song: ‘Why, dearest, shouldst thou weep, when I relate’ | | By Charles Cotton (1630–1687) |
| | | WHY, dearest, shouldst thou weep, when I relate | |
| The story of my woe? | |
| Let not the swarthy mists of my black fate | |
| O’ercast thy beauty so; | |
| For each rich pearl lost on that score | 5 |
| Adds to mischance, and wounds your servant more. | |
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| Quench not those stars that to my bliss should guide; | |
| Oh, spare that precious tear! | |
| Nor let those drops unto a deluge tide, | |
| To drown your beauty there; | 10 |
| That cloud of sorrow makes it night; | |
| You lose your lustre, but the world its light. | | | | |
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