The Circle of Affection and Other Pieces in Prose and Verse

by Duncan Campbell Scott

 

SLUMBER SONG

For Cynthia Joy Brockington
Christmas, 1945

 
        Lullaby Sweet Joy
                Lullaby;
NOW THE time has come for rest
Sleep will find you in your nest;
We will lure her with a charm
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Safe from harm;
        Lullaby Sweet Joy
                Lullaby:
We your ivory eyelids close
With the petals of a rose;
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        Lullaby Sweet Joy
                Lullaby;
Of each ear, a fragile shell,
We will make a slumber-well
And will fill them to the curb
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With the juice of a sleepy herb;
No sound will ever over the brink
Through the silence-water sink;
        Lullaby Sweet Joy
                Lullaby:
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We your lips will cover over
With the nectar from the clover,
Sweeter, so the fairies tell,
Than the honey in the cell;
        Lullaby Sweet Joy
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                Lullaby:
When the quiet night is gone
And you come to life and light
The dark rose leaves will have flown,
All the silence-juices too
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Will have vanished with the dew;
        Lullaby Sweet Joy
                Lullaby:
But the nectar on your lips
Lingers, and your tongue sips,
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Sweet—and sweeter still you smile;
That is why
When we sing a lullaby
This is all we have to say,
        Lullaby Sweet Joy
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                Lullaby.