“A Baby’s Cradle with No Baby in It” (A Poem)

In 1893, the British poetess Christina Rossetti released an illustrated collection of rhymes focused on the wonders of childbirth and infant rearing. Like so many versions before and after it, Rossetti’s text is filled with tender depictions of children and romanticized presentations of parenthood. Unlike many of its peers, the work also presents darker entries which explore the pains of loss. Two such pieces, “Baby Lies So Fast Asleep” and “A Baby’s Cradle with No Baby in It,” comment on the high infant mortality rate which marred Victorian society and present a poignant glimpse into the era’s mourning process.

A baby’s cradle with no baby in it,
A baby’s grave where autumn leaves drop sere;
The sweet soul gathered home to Paradise,
The body waiting here.[1]

Works Referenced

Rossetti, Christina. “A Baby’s Cradle with No Baby in It.” Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book. London. MacMillan and Company, 1893. 15.
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[1] Rossetti, 15.