Nurse's Song Lyrics
At the end of the day a nurse calls the children in, and they argue back: it is still light, birds are flying, the hills are covered with sheep. The nurse says yes, go on and play. William Blake published this poem in his Songs of Innocence in 1789.
Nurse's Song
When voices of children are heard on the green,
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast,
And everything else is still.
'Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,
Till the morning appears in the skies.'
'No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
And the hills are all covered with sheep.'
'Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
And then go home to bed.'
The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,
And all the hills echoèd.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/nurses-song/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- William Blake
- Tune
- Calm and warm for the nurse's lines, light and quick for the children's answer
- Best for ages
- 4 to 10 years
What Does Nurse's Song Mean?
The poem has four short verses and two voices. In the first the speaker is at rest: when the voices of children on the green (a grassy open space) and the laughter on the hill are heard, everything else is still. In the second the nurse calls them home because the sun has gone down and the dew is rising, and says it is time to go to bed until the morning.
The children's reply in the next verse is the best part. "No, no, let us play, for it is yet day, and we cannot go to sleep". They add that little birds are still flying and the hills are covered with sheep. The nurse gives in at once in the last verse: "go and play till the light fades away, and then go home to bed". The children leap, shout and laugh, and the hills echo.
The words are simple. Dew is the water that forms on grass in the evening, and echoèd is the poem's way of spelling echoed with the last syllable pronounced. A good way to read it is with one person as the nurse and a group as the children.
History and Origin
William Blake (1757 to 1827) was an English poet and engraver. He published Songs of Innocence in 1789, and this poem is one of its songs. In 1794 he joined those songs to a new set, Songs of Experience, in the book Songs of Innocence and of Experience. A different poem with the same title is in the second set, and this page gives the Innocence one, where the nurse says yes.
Learning Activities
- Two voices: one reader is the nurse and the group is the children. Practise a sleepy voice and a pleading one.
- One more game: when the children ask for a little longer, play a short game of their choice and finish with the poem's last verse.
- Dusk list: talk about what you can see and hear in the evening: birds, long shadows, a cooler breeze. Draw them on one page.
- Echo the hills: shout 'Hooray' into an empty room or hallway and listen for the echo, then read the last line.