by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Translation
Language: English  after the English
Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, Dreaming in 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 doth rest. O the cunning wiles that creep In thy little heart asleep! When thy little heart doth wake, Then the dreadful night shall break.
Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250â1900.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Composition:
- Set to music by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Cradle song", published c1966 [ SSA chorus and piano ], NY : C. Fischer
The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on
- a text in English by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "A cradle song", written c1793, appears in Notebook, possibly intended for Songs of Innocence
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-01-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 87