Poems
Upon my lap my sovereign sitsAnd sucks upon my breast;Meantime his love maintains my lifeAnd gives my sense her rest.Sing lullaby, my little boy,Sing lullaby, mine only joy!
When thou hast taken thy repast,Repose, my babe, on me;So may thy mother and thy nurseThy cradle also be.Sing lullaby, my little boy,Sing lullaby, mine only joy!
I grieve that duty doth not workAll that my wishing would;Because I would not be to theeBut in the best I should.Sing lullaby, my little boy,Sing lullaby, mine only joy!
Yet as I am, and as I may,I must and will be thine,Though all too little for thyselfVouchsafing to be mine.Sing lullaby, my little boy,Sing lullaby, mine only joy!
Words in this poem
- lullaby n.
- A song to quiet babes or lull them to sleep; that which quiets. [From Lull, v. t.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems 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: Richard Rowlands, Poems, (1565–1630), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-richard-rowlands/lullaby.html, id L15987.
Form and metre
Lullaby is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-ABB sits · breastA · life · restA · boyB · joyB
- 2 -A-ABB repast · meA · nurse · beA · boyB · joyB
- 3 -A-ABB work · wouldA · thee · shouldA · boyB · joyB
- 4 -A-ABB may · thineA · thyself · mineA · boyB · joyB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Upon my lap my sovereign sits | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And sucks upon my breast; | 6 | ······ |
| Meantime his love maintains my life | 8 | /···˘/·· |
| And gives my sense her rest. | 6 | ······ |
| Sing lullaby, my little boy, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sing lullaby, mine only joy! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When thou hast taken thy repast, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Repose, my babe, on me; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| So may thy mother and thy nurse | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy cradle also be. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Sing lullaby, my little boy, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sing lullaby, mine only joy! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I grieve that duty doth not work | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All that my wishing would; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Because I would not be to thee | 8 | ········ |
| But in the best I should. | 6 | ······ |
| Sing lullaby, my little boy, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sing lullaby, mine only joy! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yet as I am, and as I may, | 8 | ········ |
| I must and will be thine, | 6 | ······ |
| Though all too little for thyself | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Vouchsafing to be mine. | 6 | ······ |
| Sing lullaby, my little boy, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sing lullaby, mine only joy! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
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.