Ešenvalds, Ēriks: Only in Sleep


Only in sleep (2010)

Only in sleep I see their faces,
Children I played with when I was a child
Louise comes back with her brown hair braided,
Annie with ringlets warm and wild.

Only in sleep Time is forgotten –
What may have come to them, who can know?
Yet we played last night as long ago,
And the dollhouse stood at the turn of the stair.

The years had not sharpened their smooth round faces,
I met their eyes and found them mild –
Do they, too, dream of me, I wonder,
And for them am I too a child?

Words: Sara Teasdale (1884–1933)
Music: Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)