1. A child asleep

2. Learning to talk

3. The long noon-day

4. Beauty's end is in sight

The texts 1 and 3 are by Nancy Bush, and 2 and 4 by Cecil Day-Lewis. Childhood, maturity and death are the subjects of the four songs. In 'A child asleep', a mother looks down at her child, so peaceful, and yet beset with mortal danger. In the second song, 'Learning to talk', a boy looks out at the world and tries to name its marvels. 'The long noon-day' is a song of lasting love. In the final song, 'Beauty's end is in sight', the poet tells that beauty ends for each one of us, as we pay the inescapable price for the wonder of having lived.