Analysis of Lullaby

Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)



Sleep, pretty lady, the night is enfolding you;
Drift, and so lightly, on crystalline streams.
Wrapped in its perfumes, the darkness is holding you;
Starlight bespangles the way of your dreams.
Chorus the nightingales, wistfully amorous;
Blessedly quiet, the blare of the day.
All the sweet hours may your visions be glamorous-
Sleep, pretty lady, as long as you may.

Sleep, pretty lady, the night shall be still for you;
Silvered and silent, it watches you rest.
Each little breeze, in its eagerness, will for you
Murmur the melodies ancient and blest.
So in the midnight does happiness capture us;
Morning is dim with another day's tears.
Give yourself sweetly to images rapturous-
Sleep, pretty lady, a couple of years.

Sleep, pretty lady, the world awaits day with you;
Girlish and golden, the slender young moon.
Grant the fond darkness its mystical way with you;
Morning returns to us ever too soon.
Roses unfold, in their loveliness, all for you;
Blossom the lilies for hope of your glance.
When you're awake, all the men go and fall for you-
Sleep, pretty lady, and give me a chance.


Scheme ABABCDCD AEAECXCX AFAFAGAG
Poetic Form
Metre 1101001111 101101101 101010101101 1101111 1001100100 1001001101 1011011101100 1101011111 110100111111 101011011 110101100111 1001001001 10011100101 1011101011 101101100100 1101001011 110100101111 1001001011 101101100111 1001111011 1001011111 1001011111 110110110111 1101001101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,076
Words 189
Sentences 13
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 285
Words per stanza (avg) 62
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

57 sec read
158

Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. more…

All Dorothy Parker poems | Dorothy Parker Books

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