I wonder how my world can live
With all the hate she harbors.
(Sleep, my weary world.)
And I'm scared of all how long it may last,
And just how soon it all may end,
And I wish the power to stop it all
Could rest within my hands.
I've seen her people dying for
Such bold and bloody causes.
(Sleep, my weary world.)
And the bodies of the innocent
Just wash up on the lengthening shore
While the rising tide of history
Just ebbs and flows again.
Oh, make me a cradle to rock my weary world.
Make me a gentle voice,
To soothe her when she weeps.
Make my arms strong enough
To hold her when she wakes,
And make me a lullaby so sweet and fine
That I can sing my weary world to sleep.
I wish that I could soothe away
Her jagged shards of hatred.
(Sleep, my weary world.)
And, 'though my hands may bleed and burn,
I'll hold my broken world to me
Until her ugly scars are healed,
And peace may reign at last.
If her fighting will not stop,
Then I'll hold her that much closer
And sing my lullaby above the noise and pain of war.
And if her bleeding I can't staunch,
I'll bleed along beside her.
But I will not let her go,
No, I'll never let her go.
When the stars have all burned out,
I'll sing to her in darkness.
(Sleep, my weary world.)
And I pray a tender God may find me,
Huddled in the dark and cold,
And grant the weary world I shelter
One more chance to live.
May God grant my precious world
Another chance to live.