A Christmas Lullaby

Summary


"A Christmas Lullaby" is a tender nativity poem that draws readers into the quiet wonder of Christ's birth. Mary prepares a hay-lined bed, shepherds arrive wakened by seraphs, and three kings journey by starlight bearing gold and jewels — yet all these wonders gather around one sleeping infant. The poem's repeated refrain "Sleep, baby, sleep!" creates a hushed, reverent mood, balancing cosmic grandeur with an intimate maternal tenderness as the newborn King of Kings rests in peaceful slumber.

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Sleep, baby, sleep! The Mother sings:
Heaven’s angels kneel and fold their wings.
Sleep, baby, sleep!

With swathes of scented hay Thy bed
By Mary’s hand at eve was spread.
Sleep, baby, sleep!

At midnight came the shepherds, they
Whom seraphs wakened by the way.
Sleep, baby, sleep!

Mary kneels beside the baby Jesus in a manger as angels, shepherds and three kings gather — A Christmas Lullaby

And three kings from the East afar,
Ere dawn came, guided by the star.
Sleep, baby, sleep!

They brought Thee gifts of gold and gems,
Pure orient pearls, rich diadems.
Sleep, baby, sleep!

But Thou who liest slumbering there,
Art King of Kings, earth, ocean, air.
Sleep, baby, sleep!

Sleep, baby, sleep! The shepherds sing:
Through heaven, through earth, hosannas ring.
Sleep, baby, sleep!

Credits

John Addington Symonds was a 19th-century English poet, critic, and historian best known for his sweeping work on the Italian Renaissance. Among his more intimate writings, this lullaby stands out for its delicate blending of traditional nativity imagery with the soothing rhythm of a mother's song.