Bye, Baby, Night Is Come Lyrics
Night has come, and each part of the day settles down in turn: the sun goes home, the flowers close, the birds sleep and the stars come out. Every three lines the same soft call comes back: bye, baby, bye.
Bye, Baby, Night Is Come
Bye, baby, night is come,
And the sun is going home
Bye, baby, bye!
All the flowers have shut their eyes;
On the grass a shadow lies;
Bye, baby, bye!
Bye, baby, birds are sleeping;
One by one the stars are peeping;
Bye, baby, bye!
In the far-off sky they twinkle,
While the cows come tinkle, tinkle;
Bye, baby, bye!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/bye-baby-night-is-come/
- Type
- Lullabies, Poems for Children, Rhymes for Babies
- Written by
- Mary Mapes Dodge
- Tune
- Slow and rocking, with the refrain dropping lower each time
- Best for ages
- 0 to 3 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Bye, baby, bye! | Rock your arms slowly from side to side, as if cradling a baby. |
| One by one the stars are peeping | Open and close your fingers like small twinkling stars. |
What Does Bye, Baby, Night Is Come Mean?
The lullaby puts the whole evening into twelve lines. The sun is going home, so it is setting. All the flowers have shut their eyes is a picture of petals closing at dusk, and a shadow lies long on the grass. In the second verse the birds are asleep, the stars come out one by one, and the cows come tinkle, tinkle, which suggests bells on cows walking home.
The refrain Bye, baby, bye comes four times, after every second line. Night is come is the old way of saying night has come. Because each line paints something quiet, a parent can slow down and leave a pause after every picture.
History and Origin
Mary Mapes Dodge, an American author best known for the novel Hans Brinker, wrote this lullaby for Rhymes and Jingles, a book of verses for small children dated 1874. The book prints a third verse too. This page keeps the first two, the evening scene itself.
Learning Activities
- Lights down: sing a line, then dim a lamp or close a curtain, until the room is ready for sleep.
- Evening spotting: at dusk, look out of a window for the first star, a bird going to roost or a flower that has folded up.
- Hum it: try the refrain on one low note, slower each time, while rocking.
- Goodnight round: say goodnight to the sun, the flowers, the birds and the stars in the order of the poem.