Shepherd's cradle song

Sleep, baby, sleep,
Thy father guards his sheep,
Thy mother shakes the dreamland tree,
Down falls a little dream for thee,
Sleep, baby sleep.

Sleep, baby, sleep,
The large stars are the sheep,
The little stars are lambs, I guess,
The gentle moon the shepherdess,
Sleep, baby sleep.

Sleep, baby, sleep,
Away, to tend thy sheep,
Away, thou sheep dog, fierce and wild,
And do not harm my sleeping child;
Sleep, baby, sleep.

Sleep, baby, sleep,
Our Saviour loves his sheep,
He is the Lamb of God on high,
Who for our sakes came down to die,
Sleep, baby sleep.

Submitted by Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

Authorship

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [an adaptation] [ author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

• a text in German (Deutsch) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Morgenlied von den Schäfchen", appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn DUT ENG FRE
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Johannes Brahms, Anna Krause, Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, as Henry Handel Richardson. Go to the text.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Shepherd's cradle song", published 1918. [voice and piano] [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Settings in other languages or adaptations:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), original text from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , title 1: "Morgenlied von den Schäfchen", from Des Knaben Wunderhorn ENG FRE by Johannes Brahms, Johannes Brahms, Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Anna Krause.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in English, a translation by Elizabeth Prentiss , title unknown [an adaptation] GER FRE by Arthur Foote.
  • Go to the text.
    

Text added to the website: 2011-05-04.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:04:21
Line count: 20
Word count: 100

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