Poem by Emily Pauline Johnson

Lullaby of the Iroquois

    Little brown baby-bird, lapped in your nest,
            Wrapped in your nest,
            Strapped in your nest,
    Your straight little cradle-board rocks you to rest;
            Its hands are your nest;
            Its bands are your nest;
    It swings from the down-bending branch of the oak;
    You watch the camp flame, and the curling grey smoke;
    But, oh, for your pretty black eyes sleep is best, -
    Little brown baby of mine, go to rest.

    Little brown baby-bird swinging to sleep,
            Winging to sleep,
            Singing to sleep,
    Your wonder-black eyes that so wide open keep,
            Shielding their sleep,
            Unyielding to sleep,
    The heron is homing, the plover is still,
    The night-owl calls from his haunt on the hill,
    Afar the fox barks, afar the stars peep, -
    Little brown baby of mine, go to sleep.

1. Your Mirror Frame
2. Where Leaps the Ste. Marie
3. The City and the Sea
4. When George Was King
5. At Half-Mast

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