A Cradle Song: Notes

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Itself a beguiling lullaby, this superficially simple lyric conceals deeper theological abstractions. The Mother sees, in her child, the holy image of his maker, and while she watches over him, so she sees God watching over him and her. Just as she weeps over her child, so God, as Christ, had wept "for me, for thee, for all". Is God, therefore, to be identified with the child, with the mother, or as observer and protector of both? Commentators have emphasised the significance of the word 'beguiles', suggesting that it possibly indicates elements of charming or of deceiving.

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