“A Child's Sleep” Introduction

• Read the full text of “A Child's Sleep”

“A Child's Sleep” Summary

“A Child's Sleep” Themes

• 

  Childhood Innocence and Maternal Love

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-20

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Child's Sleep”

• Lines 1-4

  I stood at ...
  ... could not leave.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Her sleep was ...
  ... acred in hours.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  And she was ...
  ... wordlessly good.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  I spoke her ...
  ... their soft light;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  then went to ...
  ... face of moon.

  

  

  

  

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“A Child's Sleep” Symbols

• 

  Darkness and Light

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 5-7: “Her sleep was a small wood, / perfumed with flowers; / dark, peaceful, sacred,”
  • Lines 17-20: “The greater dark / outside the room / gazed back, maternal, wise, / with its face of moon.”

“A Child's Sleep” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

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  Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

  • Lines 7-8: “dark, peaceful, sacred, / acred in hours.”
  • Lines 11-12: “without time, without history, / wordlessly good.”
  • Lines 19-20: “gazed back, maternal, wise, / with its face of moon.”

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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  Where anaphora appears in the poem:

  • Lines 3-4: “I could not enter there, / I could not leave.”
  • Line 11: “without time, without history,”

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Lines 13-16: “I spoke her name, a pebble dropped / in the still night, / and saw her stir, both open palms / cupping their soft light;”

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Lines 5-6: “Her sleep was a small wood, / perfumed with flowers;”
  • Lines 9-10: “And she was the spirit that lives / in the heart of such woods;”
  • Lines 13-14: “I spoke her name, a pebble dropped / in the still night,”
  • Lines 17-20: “The greater dark / outside the room / gazed back, maternal, wise, / with its face of moon.”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “hearing her breathe”
  • Line 5: “sleep was,” “small wood”
  • Line 6: “perfumed,” “flowers”
  • Lines 7-8: “dark, peaceful, sacred, / acred”
  • Line 8: “hours”
  • Line 10: “woods”
  • Line 11: “without,” “without”
  • Line 12: “wordlessly”
  • Line 13: “spoke,” “pebble dropped”
  • Line 14: “still night”
  • Line 15: “saw,” “stir”
  • Lines 15-16: “open palms / cupping”
  • Line 16: “soft light”
  • Line 17: “went,” “window”

• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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  Where sibilance appears in the poem:

  • Line 5: “sleep,” “small”
  • Line 7: “peaceful,” “sacred”
  • Line 9: “spirit”
  • Line 10: “such,” “woods”
  • Line 11: “history”
  • Line 12: “wordlessly”
  • Line 13: “spoke”
  • Line 14: “still”
  • Line 15: “saw,” “stir”
  • Line 16: “soft”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “hearing,” “her”
  • Line 5: “sleep,” “small”
  • Line 10: “woods”
  • Line 11: “without,” “without”
  • Line 12: “wordlessly”
  • Line 15: “saw,” “stir”
  • Line 17: “went,” “window”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “sleep / hearing”
  • Lines 9-10: “lives / in”
  • Lines 13-14: “dropped / in”
  • Lines 15-16: “palms / cupping”
  • Lines 17-18: “dark / outside”
  • Lines 18-19: “room / gazed”

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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  Where caesura appears in the poem:

  • Line 7: “dark, peaceful, sacred”
  • Line 11: “time, without”
  • Line 13: “name, a”
  • Line 15: “stir, both”
  • Line 17: “window. The”
  • Line 19: “back, maternal, wise”

“A Child's Sleep” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Wood
• Sacred
• Acred in hours
• Cupping

• (Location in poem: Line 5: “Her sleep was a small wood,”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Child's Sleep”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“A Child's Sleep” Speaker

“A Child's Sleep” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “A Child's Sleep”

More “A Child's Sleep” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poet's Life and Work — Learn more about Duffy in this biography from the Poetry Foundation. 

  • Duffy on Writing for Young Audiences — In this 2016 interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Duffy discusses writing poetry that engages kids and how she's been inspired by her own daughter.

  • Duffy's Childhood Nostalgia — In this 2002 Guardian article, Duffy talks about her path to literary stardom and the ways in which she is still nostalgic for, and inspired by, childhood.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy

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