A Child Asleep
"A Child Asleep" is a song, with lyrics from a poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It was set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar in December 1909 and published in 1910 by Novello.[1] It was first published by Browning in 1840.[2]
It is dedicated to Anthony Goetz, the son of Ludovic Goetz and Muriel Foster, a favourite singer and personal friend of Elgar.[1]
Lyrics
How he sleepeth!
Vision unto vision calleth,
While the young child dreameth on.
Fair, O dreamer, thee befalleth
With the glory thou hast won!
Darker wert thou in the garden, yestermorn, by summer sun.
We should see the spirits [rising]
Round thee,—were the clouds away.
'Tis the child-heart draws them, singing
In the silent-seeming clay.
Singing!—stars that seem the mutest, go in music music all the way.
Softly, softly! make no noises!
Now he lieth [still] and dumb.
Now he hears the angels' voices
Folding silence in the room.
Now he muses deep the meaning of the Heaven-words as they come.
He is harmless—[we] are sinful.
[We] are troubled—he, at ease.
From his slumber, virtue winful
Floweth outward with increase.
Dare not bless him! but be blessèd by his peace—and go in peace.[3]— Stanza I, line 1a; stanzas IV, V, IX, and XII
Recordings
- The Unknown Elgar includes "A Child Asleep" performed by Teresa Cahill (soprano), with Barry Collett (piano).
- The Songs of Edward Elgar SOMM CD 220 Catherine Wyn-Rogers (soprano) with Malcolm Martineau (piano), at Southlands College, London, April 1999
References
- Kennedy, Michael (1987). Portrait of Elgar (Third ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 350. ISBN 0-19-284017-7.
- Browning, Elizabeth Barrett; Preston, Harriet Waters (1900). The Complete Poetical Works of Mrs. Browning. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 155–156.
- Text taken from: Barrett Browning, Elizabeth (1856). Poems. 2 (4th ed.). London: Chapman & Hall. pp. 150-153., showing Elgar's alterations in [brackets], according to: "How he sleepeth! having drunken (Browning, set by Edward Elgar, Sir, Rudolph T. Werther)". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
- Percy Young, Elgar O.M.
External links
- A Child Asleep: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
