A Cradle Hymn
Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber,Holy angels guard thy bed!Heavenly blessings without numberGently falling on thy head.
Sleep, my babe; thy food and raiment,House and home, thy friends provide;All without thy care or payment:All thy wants are well supplied.
How much better thou’rt attendedThan the Son of God could be,When from heaven He descendedAnd became a child like thee!
Soft and easy is thy cradle:Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay,When His birthplace was a stableAnd His softest bed was hay.
Blessèd babe! what glorious features--Spotless fair, divinely bright!Must He dwell with brutal creatures?How could angels bear the sight?
Was there nothing but a mangerCursèd sinners could affordTo receive the heavenly stranger?Did they thus affront their Lord?
Soft, my child: I did not chide thee,Though my song might sound too hard;’Tis thy mother sits beside thee,And her arms shall be thy guard.
Yet to read the shameful storyHow the Jews abused their King,How they served the Lord of Glory,Makes me angry while I sing.
See the kinder shepherds round Him,Telling wonders from the sky!Where they sought Him, there they found Him,With His Virgin mother by.
See the lovely babe a-dressing;Lovely infant, how He smiled!When He wept, the mother’s blessingSoothed and hush’d the holy child.
Lo, He slumbers in His manger,Where the hornèd oxen fed:Peace, my darling; here’s no danger,Here’s no ox anear thy bed.
’Twas to save thee, child, from dying,Save my dear from burning flame,Bitter groans and endless crying,That thy blest Redeemer came.
May’st thou live to know and fear Him,Trust and love Him all thy days;Then go dwell for ever near Him,See His face, and sing His praise!
Words in this poem
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- birthplace n.
- The town, city, or country, where a person is born; place of origin or birth, in its more general sense.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- manger n.
- A trough or open box in which fodder is placed for horses or cattle to eat. [F. mangeoire, fr. manger to eat, fr. L. manducare, fr. mandere to chew. Cf. Mandible, Manducate.]
- 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,]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- anear v. t.
- To near; to approach.
- redeemer n.
- One who redeems.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Cradle Hymn is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Isaac Watts, A Cradle Hymn, in Poems (1674–1748), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-isaac-watts/a-cradle-hymn.html, id L16147.
Form and metre
A Cradle Hymn is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 21 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB slumberA · bedB · numberA · headB
- 2 ABAB raimentA · provideB · paymentA · suppliedB
- 3 ABAB attendedA · beB · descendedA · theeB
- 4 -A-A cradle · layA · stable · hayA
- 5 ABAB featuresA · brightB · creaturesA · sightB
- 6 ABAB mangerA · affordB · strangerA · lordB
- 7 ABAB theeA · hardB · theeA · guardB
- 8 ABAB storyA · kingB · gloryA · singB
- 9 ABAB himA · skyB · himA · byB
- 10 ABAB dressingA · smiledB · blessingA · childB
- 11 ABAB mangerA · fedB · dangerA · bedB
- 12 ABAB dyingA · flameB · cryingA · cameB
- 13 ABAB himA · daysB · himA · praiseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Holy angels guard thy bed! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Heavenly blessings without number | 9 | /˘˘/˘··/˘ |
| Gently falling on thy head. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Sleep, my babe; thy food and raiment, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| House and home, thy friends provide; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| All without thy care or payment: | 8 | ······/˘ |
| All thy wants are well supplied. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| How much better thou’rt attended | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Than the Son of God could be, | 7 | ······· |
| When from heaven He descended | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| And became a child like thee! | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Soft and easy is thy cradle: | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| When His birthplace was a stable | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| And His softest bed was hay. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Blessèd babe! what glorious features-- | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Spotless fair, divinely bright! | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Must He dwell with brutal creatures? | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| How could angels bear the sight? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Was there nothing but a manger | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Cursèd sinners could afford | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To receive the heavenly stranger? | 9 | ·˘/·/˘˘/˘ |
| Did they thus affront their Lord? | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Soft, my child: I did not chide thee, | 8 | ········ |
| Though my song might sound too hard; | 7 | ······· |
| ’Tis thy mother sits beside thee, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| And her arms shall be thy guard. | 7 | ······· |
| Yet to read the shameful story | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| How the Jews abused their King, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| How they served the Lord of Glory, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Makes me angry while I sing. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| See the kinder shepherds round Him, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Telling wonders from the sky! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Where they sought Him, there they found Him, | 8 | ········ |
| With His Virgin mother by. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| See the lovely babe a-dressing; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Lovely infant, how He smiled! | 8 | /˘/˘···˘ |
| When He wept, the mother’s blessing | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Soothed and hush’d the holy child. | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| Lo, He slumbers in His manger, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Where the hornèd oxen fed: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Peace, my darling; here’s no danger, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Here’s no ox anear thy bed. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| ’Twas to save thee, child, from dying, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Save my dear from burning flame, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Bitter groans and endless crying, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| That thy blest Redeemer came. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| May’st thou live to know and fear Him, | 8 | ········ |
| Trust and love Him all thy days; | 7 | ······· |
| Then go dwell for ever near Him, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| See His face, and sing His praise! | 7 | ······· |
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.