by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Translation
Cradle song
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]
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
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Cradle song", published c1966 [ SSA chorus and piano ], NY : C. Fischer [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Cradle song ", 1967, first performed 1968 [ soprano, flute, clarinet, and piano ], from Five Nocturnes, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Welsh (Cymraeg), a translation by William Evans (1883 - 1968) , copyright © ; composed by Haydn Morris.
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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