Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A WAR-LULLABY; AUGUST, 1916, by EMILE CAMMAERTS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A WAR-LULLABY; AUGUST, 1916, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The fire dwindles and the wind moans
Last Line: Baby soon will be asleep. ...
Subject(s): Death; Fathers; Fear; Marriage; War; Dead, The; Weddings; Husbands; Wives


August, 1916

ÉMILE CAMMAERTS

Sleep, sleep, baby, sleep,
Baby soon will be asleep.

The fire dwindles and the wind moans,
The rain lashes the window-panes. ...
Is it raining and blowing there?
Hailing or thundering, perhaps?

Sleep, sleep, baby, sleep. ...

Is he well?
Is he warm?
Is he lacking naught?
Has he all he wants?
His coat, his matches, and his gloves,
And, in his pocket, next his heart,
My last letter
And all its love?

Baby soon will be asleep. ...

The lamp burns low, the fire dwindles.
We shall have to go to bed.
The child is clasping its wee fists. ...
Is my big child sleeping too?
Sleeping peacefully before the battle?
Is he running madly
Through the shells?
Or is he lying in some hole,
With open mouth and with closed eyes?

Sleep, sleep, baby, sleep. ...

The child moans and the wind swells the curtains,
The wick splutters,
The child turns in its cot,
The rain ceases, the night shivers,
The sadness of it is fearful. ...

Baby soon will be asleep. ...





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