Earth gently slipping
Into its rest
Sun slowly dipping
From east to west
South's day abiding,
North's longest night,
Sharply dividing
Darkness and light:
Waxing moon beaming, stars gently gleaming,
Humankind, tell me, what is your dreaming?
Lullaby, o, lullaby!
Dream and dream till day is nigh.
Little world spinning
Round in your sleep
Dream of beginning
Time buried deep
Ash of Sol's burning
Meteor and flame
That set you turning
And spoke your name:
Earthquake and thunder, land rent asunder,
Nova and lodestar watching in wonder:
Lullaby, o, lullaby!
Dream and dream till day is nigh.
Dream of lost ages
Wandering through space
Lava's fierce rages
Sea's warm embrace
Fertile green spilling
Onto the shore
Bright birdcall trilling,
Lizard's fierce roar;
Climbing and leaping, silent and creeping,
Life in its richness placed in your keeping:
Lullaby, o, lullaby!
Dream and dream till day is nigh.
Dream your new choices
As your race stands
Thought in your voices,
Flame in your hands;
See cities tower
Fields ripe with grain;
Desperate for power,
Yet moved by pain;
Youngest and yearning, eager and learning,
Could this be, then, the year of your turning?
Lullaby, o, lullaby!
Dream and dream till day is nigh.
Dream, too, of nightmare,
Grief unallayed
Fathomless fright where
All is betrayed,
Starfall and slaughter,
Vain your last flight,
Ruthless the water,
Endless your night;
Winning or losing, fate of your choosing,
Darkest despair but in your refusing:
Lullaby, o, lullaby!
Dream and dream till day is nigh.
Dream of dawn breaking
Days not yet known
When you come waking
Into your own
Wisdom and laughter
Love and rebirth
Long the years after
On the green earth
Old hatreds rending, new tales unending,
All recreated in the world's mending:
Dream, o dream, of rising sun.
Dream, o dream, of day begun.
Cross-posted from http://adventcanticle.blogspot.ca. For background on my Advent Canticle project, see Introduction.
Previous Advent Canticle entries:
Prelude (An Advent Canticle)
"He came without clamor" (December 1, An Advent Canticle)
"O in the fields the blossoms blow" (December 2, An Advent Canticle)
"It started in November" (December 3, An Advent Canticle)
"It was the usual tedious family gathering" (December 4, An Advent Canticle)
"It started with the news that Caspar brought." (December 5, An Advent Canticle)
"Varus, old boy, it's been a dreadful year." (December 6, An Advent Canticle)
"Lully, lullay, lullaby" (December 7, An Advent Canticle)
"And so at last diplomacy had failed..." (December 8, An Advent Canticle)
"Come, open your eyes..." (Prelude II, December 9, An Advent Canticle)
"And every year the weather gets more squirrely" (Dec. 10, An Advent Canticle)
"Fear Not!" (December 11, An Advent Canticle)
"I quit!" (December 12, An Advent Canticle)
"Midwinter Nocturne" (December 13, An Advent Canticle)
"Some say, on that first morning..." (December 14, An Advent Canticle)
"For the Children of the Sandy Hook Tragedy" (December 15, An Advent Canticle)
"On Employees Who Take Too Much Initiative" (December 16, An Advent Canticle)
"Sing a New Song..." (December 17, An Advent Canticle)
"The Second Coming" (December 18, An Advent Canticle)
"In The Green Midwinter" (December 19, An Advent Canticle)