Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ITALIAN LULLABY FOR A SICK CHILD, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ITALIAN LULLABY FOR A SICK CHILD, by                    
First Line: "sleep, dear child, as mother bids"
Last Line: "sleep, sleep, and thou shalt be well"
Subject(s): Sickness; Illness


Sleep, dear child, as mother bids;
If thou sleep thou shalt not die!
Sleep, and death shall pass thee by.
Close worn eyes and aching lids,
Yield to soft forgetfulness;
Let sweet sleep thy senses press;
Child on whom my love doth dwell,
Sleep, sleep, and thou shalt be well.

See, I strew thee, soft and light,
Bed of down that cannot pain;
Linen sheets have o'er it lain
More than snow new-fallen white.
Perfume sweet, health-giving scent,
The meadows' pride, is o'er it sprent:
Sleep, dear son, a little spell,
Sleep, sleep, and thou shalt be well.

Change thy side and rest thee there
Beauty! love! turn on thy side,
O my son, thou dost not bide
As of yore, so fresh and fair.
Sickness mars thee with its spite,
Cruel sickness changes quite;
How alas! its traces tell!
Yet sleep, and thou shalt be well.

Sleep, thy mother's kisses poured
On her darling son. Repose;
God give end to all our woes.
Sleep, and wake by sleep restored,
Pangs that make thee faint shall fly!
Sleep, my child, and lullaby!
Sleep, and fears of death dispel;
Sleep, sleep, and thou shalt be well.





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