For other versions of this work, see Child and Mother.

CHILD AND MOTHER

O MOTHER-MY-LOVE, if you 'll give me your hand,
 And go where I ask you to wander,
I will lead you away to a beautiful land—
 The Dreamland that's waiting out yonder.
We'll walk in a sweet-posie garden out there
 Where moonlight and starlight are streaming
And the flowers and the birds are filling the air
 With the fragrance and music of dreaming.

There'll be no little tired-out boy to undress,
 No questions or cares to perplex you;
There'll be no little bruises or bumps to caress,
 Nor patching of stockings to vex you.
For I 'll rock you away on a silver-dew stream,
 And sing you asleep when you're weary,
And no one shall know of our beautiful dream
 But you and your own little dearie.

And when I am tired I'll nestle my head
 In the bosom that's soothed me so often,
And the wide-awake stars shall sing in my stead
 A song which our dreaming shall soften.
So, Mother-My-Love, let me take your dear hand,
 And away through the starlight we'll wander—
Away through the mist to the beautiful land—
 The Dreamland that's waiting out yonder!