Children love the rhythms, rhymes, sounds, words and feelings of poems written for them.  CRADLE SONG by 20th century Indian poet Sarojini Naidu is a lovely, flowing, feeling verse that will have your children snuggling for more.  Come close and listen to the song…

CRADLE SONG by Sarojini Naidu

From groves of spice,
O’er fields of rice,
Athwart the lotus-stream,
I bring for you,
Aglint with dew
A little lovely dream.

Sweet, shut your eyes,
The wild fire-flies
Dance through the fairy neem;
From the poppy-bole
For you I stole
A little lovely dream.

Dear eyes, good-night,
In golden light
The stars around you gleam;
On you I press
With soft caress
A little lovely dream.

Read the poem to your children. They may not recognize all of the references (*groves, lotus, neem, poppy-bole) but they will touch the dew, smell the flowers, dance through the fairy neem and see the light of the stars.  They will hear the speaker, the voice of the poem, as YOU.  They will embrace the love of the little lovely dream being brought to THEM from so many, many places by YOU.  But most important, your children will know the beauty and safety of the night as a DREAM is brought to them.  The dream is the great gift of parent/adult/caretaker to child.

CRADLE SONG is filled with the beauty of nature… spices, fields, streams, dew, fire-flies, trees, stars.  These are images of harmony and peace… that forever feeling that some things never change.  These images entertain and teach and bring happiness and calm.

Read the poem again.  And again.  Let it sink in rather than discuss it!  CRADLE SONG, with its most lovely words and feelings, may become a favorite bedtime verse.  Remember that LITERACY is all about WORDS – Written, Spoken, Felt.

*groves– small group of trees; lotus– water lily with pinkish flowers and large leaves; neem– tree with white, fragrant flowers; poppy-bole– main stem of the poppy flower)