Now may'st thou take sweet sleep, my babe, now may'st thou go to sleep; The Holy Virgin and the Christ be near thee night and day; The Holy Virgin and the Christ, and great St. John, too, keep Their watch upon thy life, and take thy every pain away. I'll give thee Chios--if thou sleep--with many a lemon-tree, Yea, Venice with her florins too, that thou may'st rule them all; And if thou sleep, beloved babe, I'll give thee townships three, Three townships and three villages, yea, and three churches small; That in the villages may'st dine, and sleep in these thy towns, And to thy little churches go, to hear while mass be said. The sun doth on the mountains sleep, the partridge on the downs, The goose upon the shore, the child here in his cradle bed. Come Sleep, come rock it gently, Till slumb'ring sweet it lies; Come Sleep, great Sleep, and mighty. That closest children's eyes. Come Sleep, come take it from me Hence to the gardens bear, And fill its lap with roses Full thirty-leaved and fair. O Sleep, then take it from me; Yet bring it back once more, Lest its dear father, coming, Should miss his baby sore. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BOOK OF THEL by WILLIAM BLAKE THE LISBON PACKET by GEORGE GORDON BYRON REBEL MOTHER'S LULLABY by SHANE LESLIE SPRING'S WELCOME, FR. ALEXANDER AND CAMPASPE by JOHN LYLY THE TURN OF THE ROAD by JANE BARLOW |