Love

Breaking the Day in Two

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1850–1919

From The Kingdom of Love (1909)

Love

When from dawn till noon seems one long day,
And from noon till night another,
Oh, then should a little boy come from play,
And creep into the arms of his mother.
Snugly creep and fall asleep,
Oh, come, my baby, do;
Creep into my lap, and with a nap
We'll break the day in two.

When the shadows slant for afternoon,
When the midday meal is over,
When the winds have sung themselves into a swoon,
And the bees drone in the clover,
Then hie to me, hie, for a lullaby--
Come, my baby, do;
Creep into my lap, and with a nap
We'll break the day in two.

We'll break it in two with a crooning song,
With a soft and soothing number;
For the day has no right to be so long
And keep my baby from slumber.
Then rock-a-by, rock, may white dreams flock
Like angels over you;
Baby's gone, and the deed is done,
We've broken the day in two.

MLA

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler. “Breaking the Day in Two.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wilcox/717/.

Chicago

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler. “Breaking the Day in Two.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wilcox/717/.

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