by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)
A child asleep in its own life
Language: English
Among the old men that you know, There is one, unnamed, that broods On all the rest, in heavy thought. They are nothing, except in the universe Of that single mind. He regards them Outwardly and knows them inwardly, The sole emperor of what they are, Distant, yet close enough to wake The chords above your bed to-night.
Text Authorship:
- by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), "A child asleep in its own life", appears in The Palm at the End of the Mind [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "A child asleep in its own life" [ soprano and piano ], from Last Poems of Wallace Stevens, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 9
Word count: 58