Traditional
Sleep, my child, my darling child, my lovely child, sleep!The sea sleepeth on the green fields,The moon sleepeth on the blue waters,Sleep, my child, my darling child, my lovely child, sleep!
Sleep, my child!The morning sleepeth upon a bed of roses,The evening sleepeth on the tops of the dark hills;Sleep, my child, my darling child, child of my heart's love, sleep!
Sleep, my child!The winds sleep in the rocky caverns,The stars sleep on their pillow of clouds,Sleep, my child, my darling child, my little child, sleep!
Sleep, my child!The mist sleepeth on the bosom of the valley,The broad lake beneath the shade of the trees,Sleep, my child, my darling child, my tender child, sleep!
Sleep, my child!The flower sleeps, while the night-dew falls,The wild birds sleep upon the mountains;Sleep, my child, my darling child, my blessed child, sleep!
Sleep, my child!The burning tear sleepeth upon the cheek of sorrowBut thy sleep is not the sleep of tears,Sleep, my child, my darling child, child of my bosom, sleep!
Sleep, my child!Sleep in quiet, sleep in joy, my darling,May thy sleep be never the sleep of sorrow!Sleep, my child, my darling child, my lovely child, sleep!
Deirín dé, Deirín dé!The brown bittern speaks in the bog;Deirín dé, Deirín dé!The night-jar is abroad on the heath.
Deirín dé, Deirín dé!Kine will go west at dawn of day;Deirín dé, Deirín dé!And my child will go to the pasture to mind them.
Deirín dé, Deirín dé!Moon will rise and sun will set;Deirín dé, Deirín dé!Kine will come east at end of day.
Deirín dé, Deirín dé!I will let my child go gathering blackberries,Deirín dé, Deirín dé!If he sleep softly till the ring of day!
About this text
Traditional is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poem-Book of the Gael Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry into English Prose and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #46917; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Hull, Traditional, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/traditional.html, id L11800.
Form and metre
Traditional is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic 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 A--A sleepA · fields · waters · sleepA
- 8 A-A- — · bog · — · heath
- 9 A-A- — · day · — · them
- 10 A-A- — · set · — · day
- 11 A-A- — · blackberries · — · day
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, my lovely child, sleep! | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| The sea sleepeth on the green fields, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| The moon sleepeth on the blue waters, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, my lovely child, sleep! | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| Sleep, my child! | 3 | ··· |
| The morning sleepeth upon a bed of roses, | 12 | ·/˘/˘·····/˘ |
| The evening sleepeth on the tops of the dark hills; | 12 | ·/˘/˘······· |
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, child of my heart's love, sleep! | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| Sleep, my child! | 3 | ··· |
| The winds sleep in the rocky caverns, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| The stars sleep on their pillow of clouds, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, my little child, sleep! | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| Sleep, my child! | 3 | ··· |
| The mist sleepeth on the bosom of the valley, | 12 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| The broad lake beneath the shade of the trees, | 10 | ·········· |
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, my tender child, sleep! | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| Sleep, my child! | 3 | ··· |
| The flower sleeps, while the night-dew falls, | 8 | ·/······ |
| The wild birds sleep upon the mountains; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, my blessed child, sleep! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Sleep, my child! | 3 | ··· |
| The burning tear sleepeth upon the cheek of sorrow | 13 | ·/˘·/˘·····/˘ |
| But thy sleep is not the sleep of tears, | 9 | ········· |
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, child of my bosom, sleep! | 13 | ····/˘····/˘· |
| Sleep, my child! | 3 | ··· |
| Sleep in quiet, sleep in joy, my darling, | 9 | ··/····/˘ |
| May thy sleep be never the sleep of sorrow! | 10 | ····/···/˘ |
| Sleep, my child, my darling child, my lovely child, sleep! | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| The brown bittern speaks in the bog; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| The night-jar is abroad on the heath. | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| Kine will go west at dawn of day; | 8 | ········ |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| And my child will go to the pasture to mind them. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| Moon will rise and sun will set; | 7 | ······· |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| Kine will come east at end of day. | 8 | ········ |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| I will let my child go gathering blackberries, | 11 | ······/˘/·˘ |
| Deirín dé, Deirín dé! | 6 | ······ |
| If he sleep softly till the ring of day! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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.