Green, green, The grass by the river-bank. Thick, thick, The willow trees in the garden. Sad, sad, The lady in the tower. White, white, Sitting at the casement window. Fair, fair, Her red-powdered face. Small, small, She puts out her pale hand. Once she was a dancing-house girl, Now she is a wandering man's wife. The wandering man went, but did not return. It is hard alone to keep an empty bed.
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Confirmed with A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems translated by Arthur Waley, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1919, in Seventeen Old Poems, no. 2.
Authorship:
- by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), no title, first published 1919 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Alan Rawsthorne (1905 - 1971), "Green, green, the grass by the river-bank", c1934 [ voice and chamber orchestra ], from Esquisses, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-01-30
Line count: 16
Word count: 72