by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Dormi Jesu, mater ridet
Language: Latin
Available translation(s): DUT ENG FRE
Dormi Jesu, mater ridet,
Quae tam dulcem somnum videt,
Dormi Jesu, blandule!
Si non dormis, Mater plorat,
Inter fila cantans orat;
Blande, veni, somnule.
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in
Morning Post, December 1801 by "A Correspondent in Germany"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Virgin's Cradle Hymn", 1968 [ SAT chorus a cappella ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Walter Courvoisier (1875 - 1931), "Dormi jesu", op. 27 (Geistliche Lieder), Heft 2 (Christi Geburt und Kindheit) no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anton von Webern (1883 - 1945), "Dormi Jesu, mater ridet", op. 16 no. 2 (1923-4), from Fünf Canons, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Arthur Charlton [an adaptation] ; composed by Herbert Fryer.
- Also set in English, a translation by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) , "The Virgin's Cradle-Hymn Copied from a print of the Virgin in a Roman Catholic village in Germany" [an adaptation] ; composed by Ronald Kent Arnatt, Sarah Beck, Maurice Blower, Francis Boott, Ian Alfred Copley, Ervin J. Dunham, Frederick Thomas Durrant, Herrick M. Hayes, John Tasker Howard, Edward Alexander MacDowell, Alexander Campbell MacKenzie, Sir, Charles Macpherson, Kenneth Meek, John Theodore Livingston Raynor, Roland Rogers, Edmund Duncan Rubbra, Jack Meredith Tatton, Stephen D. Tuttle, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Charles Lee Williams.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Bertram Kottmann , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Slaap nu Jezus, mama glimlacht", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Kendree Chen) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 6
Word count: 24
Slaap nu Jezus, mama glimlacht
Language: Dutch (Nederlands) after the Latin
Slaap nu Jezus, mama glimlacht,
Die jouw slaap beziet met aandacht,
Slaap maar Jezus, lieveling.
Als je niet slaapt, schreit en zit zij,
Onder 't spinnen zingt en bidt zij:
Kom maar, zachte sluimering.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2011-06-13
Line count: 6
Word count: 34