Only in Sleep
Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)
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 doll-house 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?
— Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)
“Only in Sleep” was performed by soprano Kammi Estelle and the Houston Chamber Choir at their 2018-2019 season’s “This Is Why I Sing."
