Poems (Kimball)/"Sleep, sweetest Babe, and dream"
CRADLE SONGS.
(WRITTEN FOR MRS. H. E. H.)
I.
SLEEP, sweetest babe, and dream In the red firelight's gleam; The storm clouds fill the sky. Thou canst not dream of harm, Soothed by the mother-charm, A tender lullaby.
Sleep! Though the wild wind blows And drifts the blinding snows, All feathery soft they lie. The rhythm of the sleet Reaches thy hushed retreat, A gentle lullaby.
Close to thy mother's side Sleep, warm and satisfied. How sweet thy baby sigh!Dear dove! the storm is o'er; The waves lisp on the shore A ceaseless lullaby.
Sleep! Earth no more is drear Since that sweet Babe was here Whose angels thronged the sky. Sleep! Only mothers know That night of long ago When Mary bending low, Sang Jesu's lullaby.