A Serenade.

"Lullaby, oh, lullaby!"     Thus I heard a father cry,     "Lullaby, oh, lullaby!"     The brat will never shut an eye;     Hither come, some power divine!     Close his lids, or open mine!     "Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     What the devil makes him cry?     Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     Still he stares - I wonder why,     Why are not the sons of earth     Blind, like puppies, from the birth?"     "Lullaby, oh, lullaby!"     Thus I heard the father cry;     "Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     Mary, you must come and try! -     Hush, oh, hush, for mercy's sake -     The more I sing, the more you wake!"     "Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     Fie, you little creature, fie!     Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     Is no poppy-syrup nigh?     Give him some, or give him all,     I am nodding to his fall!"     "Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     Two such nights, and I shall die!     Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     He'll be bruised, and so shall I, - "     "How can I from bedposts keep,     When I'm walking in my sleep?"     "Lullaby, oh, lullaby!     Sleep his very looks deny -     Lullaby, oh, lullaby;     Nature soon will stupefy -     My nerves relax, - my eyes grow dim -     Who's that fallen - me or him?"