Sleep, Baby, Sleep

Where it comes from

This is an English version of “Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf”, one of the best-known German lullabies. These words come from Cradle Songs of Many Nations, an American book of 1882 that prints the German and the English side by side, with the tune. In the German, Mother shakes a Bäumelein, just “a little tree”. The English translator made it a dream-land tree.

It’s only one verse long, which makes it easy to learn. Sing it over and over, getting slower and quieter each time.

You may know a different line: “Down falls a little dream on thee.” Many later songbooks use that, and some add verses about stars as sheep and the moon as a shepherdess. We haven’t found those extra verses in a book old enough to be out of copyright, so we’ve kept to the 1882 words.

Old words

• thy: your.
• thee: you.
• guards the sheep: watches over the sheep, as a shepherd does.

How to sing it

• The tune is short and simple, and suits a quiet, low voice.
• Toddlers like to “shake the tree” with you, then let their hands drift down like falling dreams.