The Man in the Moon calls bedtime, then a mother sways her baby to sleep in a second verse tucked underneath. Two short pieces in one, both made for a slow, rocking voice.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
The Man in the Moon looked out of the moon,
Looked out of the moon and said,
"'Tis time for all children, on the earth
To think about getting to bed!"
DANCE, LITTLE BABY
Dance, little Baby, dance up high!
Never mind, Baby, Mother is by.
Crow and caper, caper and crow,
There, little Baby, there you go!
Up to the ceiling, down to the ground,
Backwards and forwards, round and round;
Dance, little Baby and Mother will sing,
With the merry coral, ding, ding, ding!
About this rhyme
Two rhymes paired together here. The first has the Man in the Moon looking down to announce that it is bedtime for every child on earth, a nice line to say at the actual bedtime hour. The second, 'Dance, little Baby', is a bouncing rhyme, meant to be said while jogging a baby gently up and down on your knee.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition