Analysis of Cradle Song

William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)



Sleep, sleep, beauty bright,
Dreaming in the joys of night;
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.

As thy softest limbs I feel
Smiles as of the morning steal
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,
Then the dreadful night shall break.


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF BBGG
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11101 1000111 11011 1010101 11011 1010111 1010101 1010101 1110111 1110101 101101011 1110111 1010111 0110101 1110111 1010111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 475
Words 89
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 95
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

27 sec read
582

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker. more…

All William Blake poems | William Blake Books

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