A Springtime Lullaby by Ruth Collie
"A Springtime Lullaby" by Ruth Collie is a gentle bedtime poem that uses the recurring refrain "hushaby, lullaby" to lull a sleeping child through a sequence of soft springtime images. The poem addresses the child as "pink and white blossom," blending the imagery of blooming orchard flowers with the infant being sung to sleep, so that the child and the spring landscape become one and the same tender subject. The verses move through a hushed evening scene: bluebells fall silent, and only the stars are left awake to twinkle and watch over the night. The baby's blue eyes are compared to these bluebells and told to close beneath their white eyelid "curtains," while the thrush, having finished its song, yields the night to quiet. The speaker closes this moment with a kiss and a goodnight, marking the transition from wakeful evening into sleep. The lullaby then widens its view to the surrounding countryside, picturing white woolly lambs already peacefully asleep and the child's "gold-haloed head" likened to the golden meadows now being covered by a creeping grey evening mist. This mist becomes, in turn, the protective wings of angels drawn like a curtain over the child's bed, casting the natural nightfall as a gentle, guardian-like act. Domestic and floral imagery continue to intertwine as the child's cot is described as the fairest garden the speaker knows, with rosy cheeks likened to rose petals and curls on the pillow glowing like buttercups. The poem closes by returning to its opening address, again urging the "pink and white blossom" to fall asleep, this time to the singing of nightingales rather than the thrush, with the child's eyes once more called bluebells. The final line crowns the child as "the glory of spring," tying together all the poem's floral and pastoral comparisons into a single closing image of springtime beauty and innocence. Structurally, the poem relies on gentle repetition, soft alliteration, and a soothing, incantatory rhythm built around the "hushaby, lullaby" refrain, characteristic of the lullaby genre. Rather than advancing a narrative, it works cumulatively, layering images of dusk, flowers, animals, and celestial and angelic watchfulness to create an atmosphere of safety and calm. The overall effect is a tender hymn to a sleeping child, framed entirely through the sights and sounds of a spring evening, in which nature itself seems to conspire to usher the baby gently into sleep.
By Ruth Collie · First published 1927 · Genre: Lullaby, Children's Poetry, Pastoral Poetry · 227 words
First lines
Pink and white blossom, hushaby, lullaby! Pink and white blossom, go / you to sleep. Bluebells are silent, hushaby, lullaby, only the stars / may twinkle and peep. Blue eyes of baby, hushaby, lullaby, now must / they close 'neath their curtains so white. The thrush has ceased / singing, hushaby, lullaby, pink and white blossom, I kiss you / good-night. The white woolly lambkins are peacefully sleeping, / hushaby, lullaby, gold-haloed head. O'er the gold of the meadows a / grey mist is creeping, the wings of the angels now curtain your bed. / Pink and white blossom, hushaby, lullaby. Your cot is a garden, the / fairest I know. Rose petals your cheeks are, hushaby, lullaby, and / the curls on the pillow like buttercups glow! Pink and white / blossom, hushaby, lullaby, fall you to sleep while the nightingales / sing. Bluebells your eyes are, hushaby, lullaby, pink and white / blossom, the glory of spring.
Similar titles
- The Frost Fairy by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- A Fancy by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Why The Spring Is Late by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- A Summer Night by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Lily Of Yorrow by Henry Van Dyke
- The Wild Blue Bells by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Genres
- Lullaby — The work is structured as a traditional lullaby with the repeated 'hushaby, lullaby' refrain throughout, explicitly designed to soothe and comfort a baby to sleep.
- Children's Poetry — Written specifically for an infant audience, featuring gentle rhyming verses and tender imagery designed to appeal to young children.
- Pastoral Poetry — Rich in pastoral imagery including gardens, meadows, blossoms, bluebells, lambs, nightingales, and natural landscape elements central to the composition.
- Nursery Rhymes — Employs traditional nursery rhyme conventions with rhyming couplets, repetitive structure, simple language, and themes suitable for the nursery.
Tags
spring · seasonal · nature · renewal · growth · gentle · peaceful · soothing · tender · romantic · lyrical · pastoral
What this Textopian page supports
A Springtime Lullaby is listed on Textopian as a poem by Ruth Collie, dated 1927 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Ruth Collie
- Date: 1927 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lullaby, Children's Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Nursery Rhymes, Nature Poetry
- Length: 227 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for A Springtime Lullaby by Ruth Collie
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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