Some day, if I should ever lose you, <br />will you be able then to go to sleep <br />without me softly whispering above you <br />like night air stirring in the linden tree? <br /> <br />Without my waking here and watching <br />and saying words as tender as eyelids <br />that come to rest weightlessly upon your breast, <br />upon your sleeping limbs, upon your lips? <br /> <br />Without my touching you and leaving you <br />alone with what is yours, like a summer garden <br />that is overflowing with masses <br />of melissa and star-anise? <br /> <br /> <br />Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming<br /><br />Rainer Maria Rilke<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/slumber-song/
