Eugene Field

Sept. 2, 1850 - Nov. 4, 1895

 

The Rock-A-By Lady

by Eugene Field

The Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby street
Comes stealing; comes creeping;
The poppies they hang from her head to her feet,
And each hath a dream that is tiny and fleet --
She bringeth her poppies to you, my sweet,
When she findeth you sleeping!

There is one little dream of a beautiful drum --
Rub-a-dub! it goeth;
There is one little dream of a big sugar-plum,
And lo! thick and fast the other dreams come
Of popguns that bang, and tin tops that hum,
And a trumpet that bloweth!

And dollies peep out of those wee little dreams
With laughter and singing;
And boats go a-floating on silvery streams,
And the stars peek-a-boo with their own misty gleams,
And up, up, and up, where the Mother Moon beams,
The fairies go winging!

Would you dream all these dreams that are tiny and fleet?
They'll come to you sleeping;
So shut the two eyes that are weary, my sweet,
For the Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby street,
With poppies that hang from her head to her feet,
Comes stealing; comes creeping.

Source:

Love-Songs Of Childhood
Copyright 1898
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
 

Recommended Works

The Flowers In The Cemetery - Hannah Flagg GouldDaily Trials - Oliver Wendell HolmesFalse Poets And True - Thomas HoodAvenging and Bright Fell The Swift Sword Of Erin - Thomas MooreLost At Sea - Thomas Bailey AldrichRain And Wind - Madison Julius CaweinThe Old Clock On The Stairs - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Wife Speaks - Elizabeth StoddardThe Bells - Edgar Allan PoeWhat Love Is - Ella Wheeler WilcoxFishing - Ella Wheeler WilcoxIn Flanders Fields - John McCraeMadeline - Henry TimrodTis Sweet To Think - Thomas MooreMomus, God Of Laughter - Ella Wheeler WilcoxEpitaph On Holy Willie - Robert BurnsThe Sandpiper - Celia ThaxterTo A Blank Sheet Of Paper - Oliver Wendell HolmesStrange Meeting - Wilfred OwenThe Husband Speaks - Elizabeth StoddardConstancy - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Mother's Pride - James NackThe Rose - James Whitcomb RileyWoman - Ella Wheeler WilcoxMistakes - Ella Wheeler WilcoxEndymion - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowLove's Extravagance - Ella Wheeler WilcoxRemember The Alamo - Rose Hartwick ThorpeThe House Of Clouds - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningWedded Love - James NackWhat We Need - Ella Wheeler WilcoxSand Of The Desert In An Hour-Glass - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowCold And Quiet - Jean IngelowThe Rock-A-By Lady - Eugene FieldThe Soul's Expression - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThe Bells of Lynn - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Iron Pen - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Family - Bayard TaylorContentment - Oliver Wendell HolmesThe Beautiful Land Of Nod - Ella Wheeler WilcoxTo Autumn - John KeatsO Lay Thy Hand In Mine, Dear! - Gerald MasseyEndure - Achsa White SpragueThou Art, O God - Thomas MooreThe Salt Sea-Wind - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Favorite Flower - Celia ThaxterAchievements - Ella Wheeler WilcoxWe Are Seven - William WordsworthWas, Is, And Yet-To-Be - Ella Wheeler WilcoxSpoken - Helen Hunt Jackson