A cradle song | Sleep, white love, sleep

by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), as Seosamh MacCathmhaoil

Sleep, white love, sleep

Language: English

Sleep, white love, sleep,
A cedarn cradle holds thee,
And twilight, like a silver-woven coverlid,
Enfolds thee.
Moon and star keep charmed watch
Upon thy lying;
Water plovers thro' the dusk
Are tremulously crying.
	Sleep, white love mine,
	Till day doth shine.

Sleep, white love, sleep,
The daylight wanes, and deeper
Gathers the blue darkness
O'er the cradle of the sleeper.
Cliodhna's curachs, carmine-oared,
On Loch-da-linn are gleaming;
Blind bats flutter thro' the night,
And carrion birds are screaming.
	Sleep, white love mine,
	Till day doth shine.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Seosamh MacCathmhaoil, The Mountainy Singer, Dublin, Maunsel and Company, 1909, page 17.

Authorship:

by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), as Seosamh MacCathmhaoil, "A cradle song", appears in The Mountainy Singer, Dublin, Maunsel and Company, first published 1909 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by George Norman Peterkin (1886 - 1982), "Sleep, white love", published 1940 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-08-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 87