| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910. | | | | On My Birthday | | By Matthew Prior (1664–1721) |
| | | I, MY dear, was born to-day, | |
| So all my jolly comrades say; | |
| They bring me music, wreaths, and mirth, | |
| And ask to celebrate my birth: | |
| Little, alas! my comrades know | 5 |
| That I was born to pain and woe; | |
| To thy denial, to thy scorn, | |
| Better I had ne’er been born: | |
| I wish to die, even whilst I say, | |
| ‘I, my dear, was born to-day.’ | 10 |
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| I, my dear, was born to-day, | |
| Shall I salute the rising ray? | |
| Well-spring of all my joy and woe, | |
| Clotilda, thou alone dost know. | |
| Shall the wreath surround my hair? | 15 |
| Or shall the music please my ear? | |
| Shall I my comrades’ mirth receive, | |
| And bless my birth, and wish to live? | |
| Then let me see great Venus chase | |
| Imperious anger from thy face; | 20 |
| Then let me hear thee smiling say, | |
| ‘Thou, my dear, wert born to-day.’ | | | | |
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