"A Child's Sleep" was written by the Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy and first published in her 1999 book Meeting Midnight, a collection of poems written specifically for children. The poem describes a child sleeping peacefully under the watchful eye of her mother, who imagines the world of her daughter's slumber as a dark, endless, peaceful forest that the speaker herself cannot enter. The speaker feels a sense of kinship with the night itself, which seems to look down upon the world with its own maternal gaze. The poem presents a loving, gentle portrait of childhood innocence and the comfort of a parent's love.
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The Full Text of “A Child's Sleep”
The Full Text of “A Child's Sleep”
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“A Child's Sleep” Summary
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“A Child's Sleep” Themes
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Childhood Innocence and Maternal Love
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-20
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Child's Sleep”
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Lines 1-4
I stood at ...
... could not leave. -
Lines 5-8
Her sleep was ...
... acred in hours. -
Lines 9-12
And she was ...
... wordlessly good. -
Lines 13-16
I spoke her ...
... their soft light; -
Lines 17-20
then went to ...
... face of moon.
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“A Child's Sleep” Symbols
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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.”
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“A Child's Sleep” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Asyndeton
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.”
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Anaphora
Where anaphora appears in the poem:- Lines 3-4: “I could not enter there, / I could not leave.”
- Line 11: “without time, without history,”
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Imagery
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;”
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Metaphor
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.”
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Consonance
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”
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Sibilance
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”
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Alliteration
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”
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Enjambment
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”
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Caesura
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”
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“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
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(Location in poem: Line 5: “Her sleep was a small wood,”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Child's Sleep”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“A Child's Sleep” Speaker
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“A Child's Sleep” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “A Child's Sleep”
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More “A Child's Sleep” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poet's Life and Work — Learn more about Duffy in this biography from the Poetry Foundation.
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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.
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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.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
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