Another

by Robert Herrick

Here a pretty baby lies

Sung asleep with lullabies:

Pray be silent and not stir

Th' easy earth that covers her.

The first three lines of this lyric describe a sleeping baby. At the fourth line, this understanding is shaken. The baby is covered, not by a blanket, but by earth. That is, the baby has been buried. The baby is dead. This realization provokes a sharp emotional reaction, an almost physical pang.