Norse Lullaby Lyrics
Three verses of sleep, sleep, little one, sleep. A winter storm sings it gruffly, a pine tree sings it to the vine at its foot, and the last singer says the little snowflake held close likes this song best. By Eugene Field, in his 1904 Poems of Childhood.
Norse Lullaby
The sky is dark and the hills are white
As the storm-king speeds from the north to-night;
And this is the song the storm-king sings,
As over the world his cloak he flings:
"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep";
He rustles his wings and gruffly sings:
"Sleep, little one, sleep."
On yonder mountain-side a vine
Clings at the foot of a mother pine;
The tree bends over the trembling thing,
And only the vine can hear her sing:
"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep,
What shall you fear when I am here?
Sleep, little one, sleep."
The king may sing in his bitter flight,
The tree may croon to the vine to-night,
But the little snowflake at my breast
Liketh the song I sing the best,
Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;
Weary thou art, a-next my heart
Sleep, little one, sleep.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/norse-lullaby/
- Type
- Poems for Children, Lullabies
- Written by
- Eugene Field
- Tune
- Slow and rocking, with the refrain 'Sleep, little one, sleep' sung softer each time
- Best for ages
- 0 to 6 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep | Rock gently from side to side with both arms curled as if holding a baby. |
| He rustles his wings | Flutter your fingers softly at your sides. |
| The tree bends over | Lean slowly forward from the waist, arms hanging down like branches. |
What Does Norse Lullaby Mean?
Three singers take a verse each. In the first, the storm-king is the poem's picture of a winter storm, a stern figure who comes from the north on a dark night, covers the hills in white and sings a gruff "Sleep, little one, sleep" as he passes. Norse only means from the far north of Europe, and here it sets the scene of cold, snow and pine trees.
In the second verse a vine clings to the foot of a mother pine on a mountainside. The tree bends over the trembling vine and sings softly, and only the vine can hear her: What shall you fear when I am here? That question is the heart of the poem, and a child can answer it. In the third verse the speaker says that the storm may sing in his bitter flight and the tree may croon to the vine, but the little snowflake held close "liketh" the speaker's song best. The poem does not say who the snowflake is. It fits a small child held in arms.
Old words to explain: yonder means over there, croon means sing softly and low, liketh is an old way of saying likes, and a-next my heart means right next to my heart. The refrain is always some form of "Sleep, little one, sleep", and the poem ends on it.
History and Origin
Eugene Field (1850 to 1895) wrote many lullabies and bedtime poems for children. This one appears in Poems of Childhood, the Scribner collection that came out in September 1904 and gathers verses from his earlier children's books.
The poem is built on a pattern a child can follow: a big voice (the storm), a middle voice (the tree) and a small, close voice (the person holding the child). Each sings the same line, and the last is the one the child likes best.
Learning Activities
- Three voices: sing the refrain in a big, gruff voice, then a middle voice, then a whisper, and let a child pick the one they like best.
- Snowflake hunt: on a snowy day catch a flake on a dark sleeve and look at it, or cut a paper snowflake and hang it by a window.
- Tree and vine: one child stands tall as the pine and another curls up small as the vine at its foot, and the tall one bends and sings.
- Answer the question: ask 'what shall you fear when I am here?' at bedtime, and let the child say what they would tell the storm.