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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Sleep thou! Baby mine,
By thy cradle rocking.
Soft wings pause and shine
'Round thy pillow white.
Hush! While thy mother sings
Songs of golden fancy.
Morn drops down from God
On the creeping night.
Low to thee, my dear!
Bends thy mother humming.
Stars shine silver, dear,
O'er the dusky sky.
Fears shall not mar thy sleep,
Nor sound shall awake thee.
Sleep, my baby, sleep,
'Till the dark creeps by.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
The "Slumber Song" is a traditional lullaby in the Romantic tradition, its imagery drawn from the world of angels, stars, and the gentle transition from night into morning. "Soft wings pause and shine / 'Round thy pillow white" suggests angelic watchfulness — a comfort used in lullabies from many traditions, the idea that the sleeping child is protected by presences both seen and unseen.
"Morn drops down from God on the creeping night" is an unusual and beautiful image: not the conventional sunrise but a slow falling of morning light into the darkness, as if dawn is something given rather than something that simply arrives. This kind of carefully imagined natural description is characteristic of Romantic-era children's verse, in which the natural world was understood as spiritually meaningful and worthy of close attention.
The final verse — "fears shall not mar thy sleep, nor sound shall awake thee" — is a promise and a wish, the kind of statement that lullabies make on behalf of parents who cannot, in truth, guarantee it. Sleep is presented as a place of genuine safety, removed from the fears and sounds of the waking world, under the slow creep of a night that will eventually pass.
The lullaby vocalisations in our recording carry the melody when words fall away.
