Analysis of A Fairy Lullaby

Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)



There are two stars in yonder steeps
That watch the baby while he sleeps.
But while the baby is awake
And singing gayly all day long,
The little stars their slumbers take
Lulled by the music of his song.
So sleep, dear tired baby, sleep
While little stars their vigils keep.

Beside his loving mother-sheep
A little lambkin is asleep;
What does he know of midnight gloom---
He sleeps, and in his quiet dreams
He thinks he plucks the clover bloom
And drinks at cooling, purling streams.
And those same stars the baby knows
Sing softly to the lamb's repose.

Sleep, little lamb; sleep, little child--
The stars are dim--the night is wild;
But o'er the cot and o'er the lea
A sleepless eye forever beams--
A shepherd watches over thee
In all thy little baby dreams;
The shepherd loves his tiny sheep--
Sleep, precious little lambkin, sleep!


Scheme AABCBCDD DDEAEAAA FFGAGADD
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101 11010111 11010101 0101111 0101111 11010111 11110101 11011101 01110101 0101101 1111111 11001101 11110101 0111011 01110101 11010101 11011101 01110111 1100101001 01010101 01010101 01110101 01011101 1101011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 818
Words 150
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 218
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
21

Eugene Field

Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. more…

All Eugene Field poems | Eugene Field Books

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