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Sleep Song

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) · 1925

iambic pentameter · ABCBCDBDA · 36 lines · from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke

Forget, forget!The tide of life is turning;The waves of light ebb slowly down the west:Along the edge of dark some stars are burningTo guide thy spirit safely to an isle of rest.A little rocking on the tranquil deepOf song, to soothe thy yearning,A little slumber and a little sleep,And so, forget, forget!

Forget, forget,--The day was long in pleasure;Its echoes die away across the hill;Now let thy heart beat time to their slow measure,That swells, and sinks, and faints, and falls, till all is still.Then, like a weary child that loves to keepLocked in its arms some treasure,Thy soul in calm content shall fall asleep,And so forget, forget.

Forget, forget,--And if thou hast been weeping,Let go the thoughts that bind thee to thy grief:Lie still, and watch the singing angels, reapingThe golden harvest of thy sorrow, sheaf by sheaf;Or count thy joys like flocks of snow-white sheepThat one by one come creepingInto the quiet fold, until thou sleep,And so forget, forget!

Forget, forget,--Thou art a child and knowestSo little of thy life! But music tellsThe secret of the world through which thou goestTo work with morning song, to rest with evening bells:Life is in tune with harmony so deepThat when the notes are lowestThou still canst lay thee down in peace and sleep,For God will not forget.

Words in this poem

isle v. t.: To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
soothe v. t.: To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
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,]
hast: , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Sleep Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, Sleep Song, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/sleep-song.html, id L22972.

Form and metre

Sleep Song is 36 lines in 4 stanzas of 9 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABCBCDBDA. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.

See other poems in iambic pentameter.

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 ABCBCDBDA forget^A · turning^B · west^C · burning^B · rest^C · deep^D · yearning^B · sleep^D · forget^A
2 ABCBCDBDA forget^A · pleasure^B · hill^C · measure^B · still^C · keep^D · treasure^B · asleep^D · forget^A
3 ABCBCDBDA forget^A · weeping^B · grief^C · reaping^B · sheaf^C · sheep^D · creeping^B · sleep^D · forget^A
4 ABCBCDBDA forget^A · knowest^B · tells^C · goest^B · bells^C · deep^D · lowest^B · sleep^D · forget^A

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 pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Forget, forget!	4	˘/˘/
The tide of life is turning;	7	·····/˘
The waves of light ebb slowly down the west:	10	·····/˘···
Along the edge of dark some stars are burning	11	˘/·······/˘
To guide thy spirit safely to an isle of rest.	11	···//˘·····
A little rocking on the tranquil deep	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Of song, to soothe thy yearning,	7	·····/˘
A little slumber and a little sleep,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
And so, forget, forget!	6	··˘/˘/
Forget, forget,--	4	˘/˘/
The day was long in pleasure;	7	·····/˘
Its echoes die away across the hill;	10	·/˘·˘/˘/··
Now let thy heart beat time to their slow measure,	11	·········/˘
That swells, and sinks, and faints, and falls, till all is still.	12	············
Then, like a weary child that loves to keep	10	···/˘·····
Locked in its arms some treasure,	7	·····/˘
Thy soul in calm content shall fall asleep,	10	····˘/··˘/
And so forget, forget.	6	··˘/˘/
Forget, forget,--	4	˘/˘/
And if thou hast been weeping,	7	·····/˘
Let go the thoughts that bind thee to thy grief:	10	··········
Lie still, and watch the singing angels, reaping	11	·····/˘/˘/˘
The golden harvest of thy sorrow, sheaf by sheaf;	12	·/˘/˘··/˘···
Or count thy joys like flocks of snow-white sheep	10	··········
That one by one come creeping	7	·····/˘
Into the quiet fold, until thou sleep,	10	···/˘·····
And so forget, forget!	6	··˘/˘/
Forget, forget,--	4	˘/˘/
Thou art a child and knowest	7	·····/˘
So little of thy life! But music tells	10	·/˘····/˘·
The secret of the world through which thou goest	10	·/˘·······
To work with morning song, to rest with evening bells:	12	···/˘····/˘·
Life is in tune with harmony so deep	10	·····/˘˘··
That when the notes are lowest	7	·····/˘
Thou still canst lay thee down in peace and sleep,	10	··········
For God will not forget.	6	····˘/

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.

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