Progressive Sunday School Songs ‎#178

178. Rock Me to Sleep

1 Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,
Make me a child again just for tonight!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart as of yore;
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep,
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep.

Refrain:
Backward, O tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears;
Weary of sowing for others to reap;
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep.

2 Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded our faces between,
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I tonight for your presence again;
Come from the silence so long and so deep,
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. [Refrain]

3 Mother, dear mother, the years have been long
Since last I listened your lullaby song;
Sing, then! and unto my soul it shall seem
Years that are gone have been only a dream.
Held to your heart in a loving embrace,
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep,
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight
• Title: Rock Me to Sleep
• Refrain First Line: Backward, O tide of the years
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1923
• Topic: Mother's Day
• Notes: Public Domain.

Tune Information

• Name: [Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight]
• Composer: Chas. H. Gabriel
• Copyright: 1923 by Homer A. Rodeheaver
• Notes: Public Domain.