A Cradle Song

General information

Lyricist: William Blake, from Songs of Innoccence.

Notes on selected settings

• Douglas Brooks-Davies SATB
• Henry Walford Davies SSA (vv.1-2 & 6-8)
• Francis Melville SATB (vv. 5-8 only)

Settings by composers (automatically updated)

• Douglas Brooks-Davies — A Cradle Song ('Sweet dreams form a shade')  English SATB
• Henry Walford Davies — A Cradle Song, op.4:2  English SSA
• Francis Melville — A Cradle Song  English SATB

Texts and Translations

English text 1  Sweet dreams form a shade, O'er my lovely infants head. Sweet dreams of pleasant streams, By happy silent moony beams 2  Sweet sleep with soft down. Weave thy brows an infant crown. Sweet sleep Angel mild, Hover o'er my happy child. 3  Sweet smiles in the night, Hover over my delight. Sweet smiles Mothers smiles, All the livelong night beguiles.

4  Sweet moans, dovelike sighs, Chase not slumber from thy eyes, Sweet moans, sweeter smiles, All the dovelike moans beguiles. 5  Sleep sleep happy child, All creation slept and smil'd. Sleep sleep, happy sleep. While o'er thee thy mother weep 6  Sweet babe in thy face, Holy image I can trace. Sweet babe once like thee. Thy maker lay and wept for me

7  Wept for me for thee for all, When he was an infant small. Thou his image ever see. Heavenly face that smiles on thee, 8  Smiles on thee on me on all, Who became an infant small, Infant smiles are His own smiles, Heaven & earth to peace beguiles.