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A Lullaby

by Zettel 

Posted: 19 April 2018
Word Count: 255
Summary: Loved comforting my children and now grandchildren: just the sound and vibrations of one's voice seemed to work. Made up the tune and the words as I went along with pretty mixed results.Seems to me a Lullaby is a very distinct form with constant repetition whose familiarity is part of the comforting effect. So just once I thought I'd try this form. Test I guess is can one 'hear' it sung.
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Lullaby
 
I love you on a Monday
I love you Tuesday too
I love you on Wednesday
And Thursday all day through
I love you on a Friday
As the weekend draws near
I love you on a Saturday
And Sunday you’re so dear
 
I love you in January
When it’s cold and dark
I love you in February
When it’s blustery and stark
I love you when March returns again
With winds both cold and warm
And I love you in fickle April’s rain
I love you in the month of May
When flowers bloom and leaves appear
I love you in sunny June
As Summer time draws near
I love you in July
when all the earth is warm
I love you in August
Even in a Thunderstorm
I love you in September
Back to school again
In October too
When harvest fruits we gain
I love you in November
Falling leaves and shadows late and long
I love you in December
Snow and ice and such sweet Christmas song
 
I love you in the Winter
With skeletal leafless trees
I love you in the thrill of Spring
With gentle warmth carried on the breeze
I love you ‘midst the laughing Summer sun
Swimming, playing having lots of fun
And I love you in the Fall
When again we hear Winter’s call
And the year’s course has almost run
And so my love has no season
It abides throughout the year
It needs no justifying reason
Always there when you are near.
 






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Comments by other Members



James Graham at 20:58 on 21 April 2018  Report this post
Hello Zettel - I'm afraid just now I'm doing only a poem a day, but you're next. Your lullaby is delightful. I'll have more to say about it soon.

James.
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Zettel at 11:27 on 22 April 2018  Report this post
Thanks James. 
No rush. 
Z
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V`yonne at 14:51 on 22 April 2018  Report this post
Aw. It is. It's innocent and sweet and it has a great progression through the familiar -- as in a lullaby.
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James Graham at 20:08 on 22 April 2018  Report this post
The lullaby is certainly a unique form – a song sung to an audience of one, who falls asleep during the performance! Which is the whole point.
 
This really is a delightful piece. You’re right about repetition being an essential feature. It’s coupled with a progression through the familiar, in this case the days of the week and months of the year. Each step forward is anticipated, no surprises. An element of surprise is recommended in most poetry, but not in lullabies – and quite rightly so. It must be very comforting. Rhymes are comforting too.
 
I’ve tried to hear it in my head, but I’m a very tuneless singer. I’m sure it must have worked well, or if you had ‘mixed results’ you can work on the tune and soon get it right.
 
I suppose you could leave out the lines near the end about the seasons, as it’s much the same as going through the months. You could simply go from ‘…sweet Christmas song’ straight into ‘And so my love…’. On the other hand, if it’s all familiar maybe these lines aren’t redundant after all!
 
I’m no great expert on lullabies, but don’t have to be to see that this is a classic. I hope it works over and over again, and the little ones fall asleep feeling comforted and happy.
 
James.
 
I can’t resist telling this one. I wish I’d had such a lullaby to hand (and that I could sing) when my grandchildren were small, but I did read them bedtime stories. Once I made the mistake of reading a bit of Tolkien. My grandson soon began amusing himself, mainly by standing on his head, then he asked me what we were doing tomorrow. I closed the book.
 
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Zettel at 23:49 on 23 April 2018  Report this post
James - as ever thanks for your kind words.

Love your story. The last three years with my now imperious granddaughter Poppy have convinced me that our instinctive and truthful responses to the world diminishes precisely as we spend more time in it: the 'price' of learning is to l ose something precious - innocence perhaps.

Mischievously: Tolkein!  Having failed even the Hobbit - I'm with your grandson.

V'yonne - thanks.
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