In 1928 the seemingly indefatigable Ralph Vaughan Williams collaborated on The Oxford Book of Carols with Martin Shaw and the Rev. Percy Dearmer. The composer arranged a good many hymns for the project and provided original tunes for four, including for Wither's Rocking Hymn, which appeared as No. 185 in the book. Its title comes from the author of the text, George Wither (1588 - 1667).

The hymn, or song, opens with the words, "Sweet baby, sleep! What ails my dear?" Its text, if not its music, is a sort of precursor to the traditional lullaby, Rock-a-bye Baby, as it also concerns a doting mother rocking her baby to sleep. The music in Vaughan Williams' song here is soothing and features a gentle lilt, but its manner is otherwise quite different from, and more subtle than, the other "rocking" song. It possesses a diaphanous, slightly exotic quality, and its theme is of greater expressive substance. Its character is typical of the composer's melodic creations, especially when one thinks of the Three Vocalises (1958) and some of the Ten Blake Songs (1957). In the end then, one must judge this as one of Vaughan Williams' more attractive vocal settings.

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