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Six Songs , opus 3

by Basil Harwood (1859 - 1949)

4. A cradle song  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Sleep, sleep, beauty bright,
Dreaming o'er the joys of night;
Sleep, sleep, in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit and weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Soft desires I can trace,
Secret joys and secret smiles,
Little pretty infant wiles.

As thy softest limbs I feel, 
Smiles as of the morning steal 
O'er thy cheek, and o'er thy breast 
Where thy little heart does rest.

O! the cunning wiles that creep 
In thy little heart asleep. 
When thy little heart does wake 
Then the dreadful lightnings break, 

From thy cheek and from thy eye, 
O'er the youthful harvests nigh. 
Infant wiles and infant smiles 
Heaven and Earth of peace beguiles.

Text Authorship:

  • by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "A cradle song", written c1793, appears in Notebook, possibly intended for Songs of Innocence

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

5. In a myrtle shade  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
To a lovely myrtle bound,
Blossoms showering all around,
Oh, how weak and weary I
Underneath my myrtle lie!

Why should I be bound to thee,
O my lovely myrtle tree?
Love, free love cannot be bound
To any tree that grows on ground.

Text Authorship:

  • by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "In a myrtle shade"

See other settings of this text.

Sometimes titled "To my Myrtle" with only lines 1-6

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