The Cock, Who Soundly Sleeps at Night Lyrics
At first light a cock crows loudly and wakes the ploughman, and a lark flies up to the middle of the sky singing a merry tune. The child in the third verse decides to leave bed at the cock's crow, to hear the lark, because staying in bed on a bright day would be a pity.
The Cock, Who Soundly Sleeps at Night
The cock, who soundly sleeps at night,
Rises with the morning light,
Very loud and shrill he crows;
Then the sleeping ploughman knows
He must leave his bed also,
To his morning work to go.
And the little lark does fly
To the middle of the sky:
You may hear his merry tune,
In the morning very soon;
For he does not like to rest
Idle in his downy nest.
While the cock is crowing shrill,
Leave my little bed I will,
And I'll rise to hear the lark,
For it is no longer dark:
'Twould be a pity there to stay,
When 'tis bright and pleasant day.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-cock-who-soundly-sleeps-at-night/
- Type
- Poems for Children, Animal Rhymes
- Tune
- A brisk, rising morning tune, with a crow on the second line of the first verse
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Very loud and shrill he crows; | Tuck your elbows in and flap them once, then crow in a small voice. |
| To the middle of the sky: | Raise one hand slowly high above your head like a lark flying up. |
What Does The Cock, Who Soundly Sleeps at Night Mean?
The poem is a morning call. It sets three early risers in a row: the cock, who sleeps soundly but is up with the light; the ploughman, who is a farm worker that guides a plough, and who hears the crow and knows it is time to go to his work; and the lark, a small brown bird that sings as it flies high. The lark does not like to rest idle in his downy nest. Downy means soft and feathery, and idle means doing nothing.
The last verse makes it personal. The child says leave my little bed I will and rise to hear the lark, since it is no longer dark. The reason given is a sensible one for a child: 'twould be a pity there to stay on a bright day. The poem never mentions being sleepy or cross.
History and Origin
The 1831 London printing, the twenty-third edition, gives this poem the title Time to rise. It is a different poem from Robert Louis Stevenson's Time to Rise on this site, so it is named here by its first line.
Learning Activities
- Crow call: let the child be the cock and wake the family with a crow, and take turns.
- Early listening: on a clear morning, open a window and count the different bird sounds.
- Rising chart: draw a cock, a ploughman and a lark in a row and tell what each one does first thing.
- Morning song: read the last verse out loud as a morning chant on a school day.