Sleep, My Little One - A Collection of Sleep & Dream Poems

By Ragged Hand

Silver sails all out of the west
Under the silver moon:
Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep.
- Tennyson
Sleep, My Little One brings together 59 carefully selected poems about sleep and dreams.
This gorgeous collection includes the most tender and calming poetry classics from Tennyson's "Sweet and Low" to Blake's "Cradle Song" from Browning's "Sleeping and Watching" to Dickinson's "The Moon".
These poems encompass the moon, the night, sleeping and dreaming in an anthology of verse, lullabies and songs. It will spark imagination and encourage curiosity in young minds.
Whether enjoyed alone or read aloud to little ones, this treasury of poets is sure to soothe to sleep and invite sweet dreams.
This beautiful book will make the perfect keepsake for new babies and new parents or a treasured gift for little ones and those now grown.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ragged Hand
• Release date: Oct 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528792752

Book preview

DESIRE IN SPRING

By Francis Ledwidge

I love the cradle songs the mothers sing

In lonely places when the twilight drops,

The slow endearing melodies that bring

Sleep to the weeping lids; and, when she stops,

I love the roadside birds upon the tops

Of dusty hedges in a world of Spring.

And when the sunny rain drips from the edge

Of midday wind, and meadows lean one way,

And a long whisper passes thro' the sedge,

Beside the broken water let me stay,

While these old airs upon my memory play,

And silent changes colour up the hedge.

SWEET AND LOW,

SWEET AND LOW

By Alfred Lord Tennyson

Sweet and low, sweet and low,

Wind of the western sea,

Low, low, breathe and blow,

Wind of the western sea!

Over the rolling waters go,

Come from the dying moon, and blow,

Blow him again to me;

While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.

Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,

Father will come to thee soon;

Rest, rest, on mother's breast,

Father will come to thee soon;

Father will come to his babe in the nest,

Silver sails all out of the west

Under the silver moon:

Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep.

CRADLE SONG

By William Blake

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.

BED-TIME SONG

By Emilie Poulsson

Sleep , my baby, while I sing

Bed-time news of everything.

Chickens run to mother hen;

Piggy curls up in the pen.

In the field, all tired with play,

Quiet now the lambkins stay.

Kittens cuddle in a heap—

Baby, too, must go to sleep!

Sleep, my baby, while I sing

Bed-time news of everything.

Now the cows from pasture come;

Bees fly home with drowsy hum.

Little birds are in the nest,

Under mother-bird's soft breast.

Over all soft shadows creep—

Baby now must go to sleep.

Sleep, my baby, while I sing

Bed-time news of everything.

Sleepy flowers seem to nod,

Drooping toward the dewy sod;

While the big sun's fading light

Bids my baby dear good-night.

Mother loving watch will keep;

Baby now must go to sleep.

THE MOON

By Emily Dickinson

The moon was but a chin of gold

A night or two ago,

And now she turns her perfect face

Upon the world below.

Her forehead is of amplest blond;

Her cheek like beryl stone;

Her eye unto the summer dew

The likest I have known.

Her lips of amber never part;

But what must be the smile

Upon her friend she could bestow

Were such her silver will!

And what a privilege to be

But the remotest star!

For certainly her way might pass

Beside your twinkling door.

Her bonnet is the firmament,

The universe her shoe,

The stars the trinkets at her belt,

Her dimities of blue.

A DREAM