I read this as a poem about a sleepless child, a toddler in a nightgown who was sleeping between mom and dad and then woke up and started playing. A child who is not actually a ghost, but is being compared, metaphorically to a ghost. If you've ever had a child whose sleep schedule is messed up and who wants to wander, wakeful all night; if you've ever pretended to be asleep, hoping that your toddler will give up and go to sleep if you don't interact with them... that's what this poem invokes for me. A playful, tongue-in-cheek vision of Mom and dad being haunted by their living, insomniac child, who finally gives up and passes out. Then the parents, who have only been pretending to sleep, sit up and pray over their ***finally sleeping!!!*** child:
My thoughts in reading went immediately to the fact that this was still an age when so many children died in infancy that its audience would quickly personalize the playful little ghost.
"Then those who feigned to sleep before,
Lest baby play till dawn,
Wake and watch their folded flower,
Little rose without a thorn! "
I read this as a poem about a sleepless child, a toddler in a nightgown who was sleeping between mom and dad and then woke up and started playing. A child who is not actually a ghost, but is being compared, metaphorically to a ghost. If you've ever had a child whose sleep schedule is messed up and who wants to wander, wakeful all night; if you've ever pretended to be asleep, hoping that your toddler will give up and go to sleep if you don't interact with them... that's what this poem invokes for me. A playful, tongue-in-cheek vision of Mom and dad being haunted by their living, insomniac child, who finally gives up and passes out. Then the parents, who have only been pretending to sleep, sit up and pray over their ***finally sleeping!!!*** child:
"The hearts that love it most,
Pray tenderly above its sleep,
“God bless our little ghost!”"
Thank you for coming on with this poem; insightful remarks, interesting backstory,
Thanks all round!
Love it!
Perfect Parlor Poetry!
Thank you for that wonderful analysis. I learned so much!
My thoughts in reading went immediately to the fact that this was still an age when so many children died in infancy that its audience would quickly personalize the playful little ghost.