A Child Asleep
How he sleepeth, having drunkenWeary childhood's mandragore!From its pretty eyes have sunkenPleasures to make room for more;Sleeping near the withered nosegay which he pulled the day before.
Nosegays! leave them for the waking;Throw them earthward where they grew;Dim are such beside the breakingAmaranths he looks unto:Folded eyes see brighter colours than the open ever do.
Heaven-flowers, rayed by shadows goldenFrom the palms they sprang beneath,Now perhaps divinely holden,Swing against him in a wreath:We may think so from the quickening of his bloom and of his breath.
Vision unto vision callethWhile the young child dreameth on:Fair, O dreamer, thee befallethWith the glory thou hast won!Darker wast thou in the garden yestermorn by summer sun.
We should see the spirits ringingRound thee, were the clouds away:'T is the child-heart draws them, singingIn the silent-seeming clay--Singing! stars that seem the mutest go in music all the way.
As the moths around a taper,As the bees around a rose,As the gnats around a vapour,So the spirits group and closeRound about a holy childhood as if drinking its repose.
Shapes of brightness overlean thee,Flash their diadems of youthOn the ringlets which half screen thee,While thou smilest ... not in soothThy smile, but the overfair one, dropt from some etherial mouth.
Haply it is angels' duty,During slumber, shade by shadeTo fine down this childish beautyTo the thing it must be madeEre the world shall bring it praises, or the tomb shall see it fade.
Softly, softly! make no noises!Now he lieth dead and dumb;Now he hears the angels' voicesFolding silence in the roomNow he muses deep the meaning of the Heaven-words as they come.
Speak not! he is consecrated;Breathe no breath across his eyes:Lifted up and separatedOn the hand of God he liesIn a sweetness beyond touching, held in cloistral sanctities.
Could ye bless him, father--mother,Bless the dimple in his cheek?Dare ye look at one anotherAnd the benediction speak?Would ye not break out in weeping and confess yourselves too weak?
He is harmless, ye are sinful;Ye are troubled, he at ease;From his slumber virtue winfulFloweth outward with increase.Dare not bless him! but be blessed by his peace, and go in peace.
Words in this poem
- nosegay n.
- A bunch of odorous and showy flowers; a bouquet; a posy. [Nose + gay in the sense of a gay or showy thing.]
- earthward adv.
- Toward the earth; -- opposed to heavenward or skyward.
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- dreamer n.
- One who dreams.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- yestermorn n.
- The morning of yesterday. Coleridge.
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- cloistral a.
- Of, pertaining to, or confined in, a cloister; recluse.
- dimple n.
- A slight natural depression or indentation on the surface of some part of the body, esp. on the cheek or chin. [Prob. a nasalized dim. of dip. See Dip, and cf. Dimble.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Child Asleep is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #33363; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A Child Asleep, in Lady Geraldine's Courtship, and Other Poems (1844), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33363, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barrett-browning-poems-2/a-child-asleep.html, id L24826.
Form and metre
A Child Asleep is 60 lines in 12 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 8 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABB drunkenA · mandragoreB · sunkenA · moreB · beforeB
- 2 ABA-B wakingA · grewB · breakingA · unto · doB
- 3 ABAB- goldenA · beneathB · holdenA · wreathB · breath
- 4 ABABB callethA · onB · befallethA · wonB · sunB
- 5 ABABB ringingA · awayB · singingA · clayB · wayB
- 6 ABABB taperA · roseB · vapourA · closeB · reposeB
- 7 ABABB theeA · youthB · theeA · soothB · mouthB
- 8 ABABB dutyA · shadeB · beautyA · madeB · fadeB
- 9 -A--A noises · dumbA · voices · room · comeA
- 10 ABABB consecratedA · eyesB · separatedA · liesB · sanctitiesB
- 11 ABABB motherA · cheekB · anotherA · speakB · weakB
- 12 ---AA sinful · ease · winful · increaseA · peaceA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| How he sleepeth, having drunken | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Weary childhood's mandragore! | 7 | /˘/···· |
| From its pretty eyes have sunken | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Pleasures to make room for more; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Sleeping near the withered nosegay which he pulled the day before. | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘······· |
| Nosegays! leave them for the waking; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Throw them earthward where they grew; | 7 | ······· |
| Dim are such beside the breaking | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Amaranths he looks unto: | 7 | /˘····· |
| Folded eyes see brighter colours than the open ever do. | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Heaven-flowers, rayed by shadows golden | 10 | /˘/˘··/·/˘ |
| From the palms they sprang beneath, | 7 | ······· |
| Now perhaps divinely holden, | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Swing against him in a wreath: | 7 | ······· |
| We may think so from the quickening of his bloom and of his breath. | 16 | ······/˘˘······· |
| Vision unto vision calleth | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| While the young child dreameth on: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Fair, O dreamer, thee befalleth | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| With the glory thou hast won! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Darker wast thou in the garden yestermorn by summer sun. | 15 | /˘····/˘····/˘· |
| We should see the spirits ringing | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Round thee, were the clouds away: | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| 'T is the child-heart draws them, singing | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| In the silent-seeming clay-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Singing! stars that seem the mutest go in music all the way. | 15 | /˘········/˘··· |
| As the moths around a taper, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| As the bees around a rose, | 7 | ······· |
| As the gnats around a vapour, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| So the spirits group and close | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Round about a holy childhood as if drinking its repose. | 15 | ····/˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| Shapes of brightness overlean thee, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Flash their diadems of youth | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| On the ringlets which half screen thee, | 8 | ········ |
| While thou smilest ... not in sooth | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Thy smile, but the overfair one, dropt from some etherial mouth. | 15 | ··············· |
| Haply it is angels' duty, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| During slumber, shade by shade | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| To fine down this childish beauty | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| To the thing it must be made | 7 | ······· |
| Ere the world shall bring it praises, or the tomb shall see it fade. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Softly, softly! make no noises! | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Now he lieth dead and dumb; | 6 | ······ |
| Now he hears the angels' voices | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Folding silence in the room | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Now he muses deep the meaning of the Heaven-words as they come. | 16 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘···· |
| Speak not! he is consecrated; | 8 | ····/˘·˘ |
| Breathe no breath across his eyes: | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Lifted up and separated | 8 | /˘··/˘·˘ |
| On the hand of God he lies | 7 | ······· |
| In a sweetness beyond touching, held in cloistral sanctities. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Could ye bless him, father--mother, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Bless the dimple in his cheek? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Dare ye look at one another | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| And the benediction speak? | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Would ye not break out in weeping and confess yourselves too weak? | 15 | ······/˘·˘/˘/·· |
| He is harmless, ye are sinful; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Ye are troubled, he at ease; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| From his slumber virtue winful | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Floweth outward with increase. | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Dare not bless him! but be blessed by his peace, and go in peace. | 14 | ·············· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.