If I could, I would sing you to sleep. I would give you my hand to keep In yours till you fell asleep, And take it away then, slowly. I would sit by you and be. In the world the dark would be deep. I would watch. And at last I would sleep. But if rain should star the stream Of your sleep, I would whisper: “See You are asleep”; and slowly, Your breath would change in your dream Till, ages and ages deep In the dark, you would say to me: “I love you.” I love you, But I am here always. Sleep now. Sleep.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Authorship:
- by Randall Jarrell (1914 - 1965) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Unknown Language by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961), "A Variation on 'To Say To Go To Sleep'", op. 22 no. 3 (1987), from Night Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Scott Wheeler (b. 1952), "A Variation on “To Say to Go to Sleep”", 1984 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Night Songs, no. 1, Scott Wheeler Music [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Scott Wheeler (b. 1952), "A Variation on “To Say to Go to Sleep”", 1984 [ voice and piano ], from Singing to Sleep, no. 2, Scott Wheeler Music [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Eric Saroian
This text was added to the website: 2022-05-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 106