Book 7, Epigram 36: De puero balbutiente.

B
Methinks 'tis pretty sport to hear a child,
Rocking a word in mouth yet undefiled.
the tender racket rudely plays the sound,
Which weakly banded cannot back rebound,
And the soft air the softer roof does kiss,
With a sweet dying and a pretty miss,
Which hears no answer yet from the white rank
Of teeth, not risen from their coral bank.
The alphabet is searched for letters soft,
To try a word before it can be wrought,
And when it slides forth, it goes as nice,
As when a man does walk upon the ice.

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