by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Sweet dreams, form a shade
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Language: English
Sweet dreams, form a shade O'er my lovely infant's head, Sweet dreams of pleasant streams, By happy, silent, moony beams. Sweet Sleep, with soft down Weave thy brows an infant crown; Sweet Sleep, angel mild, Hover o'er my happy child. Sweet smiles, in the night Hover over my delight. Sweet smiles, mother's smiles, All the livelong night beguiles. Sweet moans, dovelike sighs, Chase not slumber from thy eyes! Sweet moans, sweeter smiles, All the dovelike moans beguiles. Sleep, sleep, happy child: All creation slept and smiled. Sleep, sleep, happy sleep, While o'er thee thy mother weep. Sweet babe, in thy face Holy image I can trace; Sweet babe, once like thee Thy maker lay and wept for me, Wept for me, for thee, for all, When he was an infant small. Thou his image ever see, Heavenly face that smiles on thee -- Smiles on thee, on me, on all, Who became an infant small, Infant smiles are his own smiles; Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.
M. Carmichael sets stanzas 1-5
D. Thomas sets stanzas 1-4, 5:1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Blake: The Complete Poems, ed. by W. H. Stevenson, Third Edition, Routledge, 2007, pages 61-62.
Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "A Cradle Song", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 11, first published 1789 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
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Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 179