Sleep, my pretty one,
Sleep, my little one,
Rose in the garden is blooming so red;
Over the flowers the fleet-footed hours
Dance into dreamland to melody wed;
To the voice of the stream--to a song in a dream,
Sung low by the brook to its stone-covered bed,
Sung soft as it goes,
And the heart of the rose
Gives a tremulous leap
As the melody flows.
Ah, little one, sleep,
Sleep.
Peace, my little one,
Peace, my pretty one,
Lilies bend low to the breath of the breeze;
Lithe as a willow, the boat on the billow
High tosses the spray for the sunlight to tease,
With a kiss and a tear--with a rainbow, a fear
For the light is the sun's and the spray is the sea's
And the wind o'er the lea
Breaks to melody free,
As the waves that release
The low laugh of the sea.
My pretty one, peace,
Peace.
Joy, my pretty one,
Joy, my little one,
Fairies of night from their bright jeweled cars
Fling a faint sheen and shimmer on ripple where glimmer
The up-gazing eyes of the down-gazing stars;
And the boat, while it glides, sings the song of the tides
As they kiss into languor the sand of the bars.
Oh, river, flow fleet,
Ere the melody meet
The sea's breath to destroy
What the echoes repeat:
My little one, joy,
Joy!
