English

Interjection

ay me

1. (now archaic) Expressing grief, sorrow etc.
   • c.1595, William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, First Folio, 1623:

     Ay me, it is my husband.

   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II. 8:

     Ay-me, to whom did I reserve, to discover that singular and loving affection, which in my soule I bare unto him?

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV:

     Ay me! they little know / How dearly I abide that boast so vain […].