Sleep Baby Sleep — Nursery Rhyme Lyrics

Sleep, baby, sleep,
Thy papa guards the sheep;
Thy mama shakes the dreamland tree
And from it fall sweet dreams for thee,
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Our cottage vale is deep;
The little lamb is on the green,
With woolly fleece so soft and clean,
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Down where the woodbines creep;
Be always like the lamb so mild,
A kind and sweet and gentle child,
Sleep, baby, sleep,

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Learning from "Sleep Baby Sleep"

Nursery rhymes are some of the best teachers of rhythm and rhyme. "Sleep Baby Sleep" uses 15 lines to create a memorable verse — proof that effective poetry doesn't need to be long. Pay attention to the meter: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables is what makes the rhyme stick in your head.

Songwriters and poets can borrow these patterns. Try writing your own lyrics using the same rhyme scheme and line length as this nursery rhyme. You can also use words from the poem above as starting points — click any word to find rhymes or look up its definition, then build from there.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the words to Sleep Baby Sleep?
The lyrics to Sleep Baby Sleep are: Sleep, baby, sleep, / Thy papa guards the sheep; / Thy mama shakes the dreamland tree / And from it fall sweet dreams for thee, / Sleep, baby, sleep, / Sleep, baby, sleep, ... Read the full 15-line nursery rhyme at Rhyme Buster.
How many lines does Sleep Baby Sleep have?
"Sleep Baby Sleep" has 15 lines of verse.

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