A Cradle Song By William Blake

SLEEP, sleep, beauty bright,   

A Cradle Song~

Dreaming in the joys of night;   

Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep   

Little sorrows sit and weep.   

 Sweet babe, in thy face          5

Soft desires I can trace,   

Secret joys and secret smiles,   

Little pretty infant wiles.   

 As thy softest limbs I feel   

Smiles as of the morning steal   10

O'er thy cheek, and o'er thy breast   

Where thy little heart doth rest.   

 O the cunning wiles that creep   

In thy little heart asleep!   

When thy little heart doth wake,   15

Then the dreadful night shall break.

Dare to analyse it: 

The poet is trying to express her concerns for her child when he grows up .(another point)

The poet express her concerns for her child when he grows up. It is evident from “ little sorrows sit and weep” and  “O the cunning wiles that creep” . This tells me that when he grows up he will be facing the harsh reality of the world and the mother is worried about her son . The mother’s constant worry of the son of whether he will be able to cope in future , and hopes that he will stay this small forever so that she can assure that no one can harm him . In the world now , there are many harmful things , she does not want her child to get hurt . Also the world now is not that simple ,it is complicated with a lot of “bad people and things” that would try to harm you hence the mother does expresses her worries for her child in the future .

The poet is also trying to tell the child to enjoy sleeping with sweet dreams and not worry about what troubles they have in the real life. It is evident from’Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep  Little sorrows sit and weep.  Sweet babe, in thy face, Soft desires I can trace, Secret joys and secret smiles, Little pretty infant wiles.’ This shows how the child is having a good dream. You can see that there a troubles in real life, as ‘When thy little heart doth wake, then the dreadful night shall break.’ And as probably for the child at that time was the dark as darkness is scary for most children, but in the future it will probably be real life problems, hence the poet is telling the child to enjoy sleeping with sweet dreams and not worry about what troubles they have in the real life.

Now let's enjoy a music video!