A Child Asleep Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABB CBCBB ADADE EFEAA CGCGG BHBIH EEEEE EJEJJ KLMNL OPOPP BQBQQ RPRPP| How he sleepeth having drunken | A |
| Weary childhood's mandragore | B |
| From his pretty eyes have sunken | A |
| Pleasures to make room for more | B |
| Sleeping near the withered nosegay which he pulled the day before | B |
| - | |
| Nosegays leave them for the waking | C |
| Throw them earthward where they grew | B |
| Dim are such beside the breaking | C |
| Amaranths he looks unto | B |
| Folded eyes see brighter colours than the open ever do | B |
| - | |
| Heaven flowers rayed by shadows golden | A |
| From the paths they sprang beneath | D |
| Now perhaps divinely holden | A |
| Swing against him in a wreath | D |
| We may think so from the quickening of his bloom and of his breath | E |
| - | |
| Vision unto vision calleth | E |
| While the young child dreameth on | F |
| Fair O dreamer thee befalleth | E |
| With the glory thou hast won | A |
| Darker wert thou in the garden yestermorn by summer sun | A |
| - | |
| We should see the spirits ringing | C |
| Round thee were the clouds away | G |
| 'Tis the child heart draws them singing | C |
| In the silent seeming clay | G |
| Singing Stars that seem the mutest go in music all the way | G |
| - | |
| As the moths around a taper | B |
| As the bees around a rose | H |
| As the gnats around a vapour | B |
| So the Spirits group and close | I |
| Round about a holy childhood as if drinking its repose | H |
| - | |
| Shapes of brightness overlean thee | E |
| Flash their diadems of youth | E |
| On the ringlets which half screen thee | E |
| While thou smilest not in sooth | E |
| Thy smile but the overfair one dropt from some aethereal mouth | E |
| - | |
| Haply it is angels' duty | E |
| During slumber shade by shade | J |
| To fine down this childish beauty | E |
| To the thing it must be made | J |
| Ere the world shall bring it praises or the tomb shall see it fade | J |
| - | |
| Softly softly make no noises | K |
| Now he lieth dead and dumb | L |
| Now he hears the angels' voices | M |
| Folding silence in the room | N |
| Now he muses deep the meaning of the Heaven words as they come | L |
| - | |
| Speak not he is consecrated | O |
| Breathe no breath across his eyes | P |
| Lifted up and separated | O |
| On the hand of God he lies | P |
| In a sweetness beyond touching held in cloistral sanctities | P |
| - | |
| Could ye bless him father mother | B |
| Bless the dimple in his cheek | Q |
| Dare ye look at one another | B |
| And the benediction speak | Q |
| Would ye not break out in weeping and confess yourselves too weak | Q |
| - | |
| He is harmless ye are sinful | R |
| Ye are troubled he at ease | P |
| From his slumber virtue winful | R |
| Floweth outward with increase | P |
| Dare not bless him but be blessed by his peace and go in peace | P |
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
(1)
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About A Child Asleep
A Child Asleep is a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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