Armenian legends and poems

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Armenian Legends and Poems
CRADLE
SONG
By RAPHAEL PATKANIAN
(1830-1892)
Mother
Sweet slumber now creeps o'er thee slow.
Sweet breezes rock thee to and fro :
My baby sleeps, so soft and low
With sweetest songs I'll sing oror,^
Baby
O Mother dear, thou art unkind
My sleepless eyes so long to bind/
Anon I'll rest, and sleep resigned ;
Release me now, sing not oror.
Mother
Why dost thou shed those tears that flow
Down thy sad cheeks with pearly glow?"
Thou'lt break thy heart with sobbing so,
Whom wilt thou have to sing orort
Baby
At least my hands and feet unbind
My tender limbs are all confined;
That gentle sleep my eyes may find.
Then tie me in, and sing oror.
Oror—lullaby.
2 Armenian babies have their eyes bandaged when they are put to sleep, and they are tied into their cradles.