1972
A Child Asleep in Its Own Life
Composed by 
Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem Text by 
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens Last Poems of Wallace Stevens Song Collection
"A Child Asleep in Its Own Life" is the third poem and song in Ned Rorem's Last Poems of Wallace Stevens. "A Child Asleep in Its Own Life" is for soprano and piano, though the entire song cycle is for soprano, cello, and piano. The song is also included in Rorem's 50 Collected Songs.
Text
A Child Asleep in Its Own Life
by Wallace Stevens
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.
–The Palm at the End of the Mind: Selected Poems and a Play
Sheet Music
Last Poems of Wallace Stevens
Ned Rorem
1. Not Ideas about the Thing but the Thing Itself
2. The River of Rivers in Connecticut
3. A Child Asleep in Its Own Life
4. The Planet on the Table
5. The Dove in Spring
6. Of Mere Being
7. A Clear Day and No Memories
2. The River of Rivers in Connecticut
3. A Child Asleep in Its Own Life
4. The Planet on the Table
5. The Dove in Spring
6. Of Mere Being
7. A Clear Day and No Memories