by
Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968)
Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文)
Available translation(s): GER
You were foreordained to find the source.
Now, tracing your way -- as in a dream
There where the sea floats up the sky,
You wane from the world in your fragile boat.
The water and the moon are as calm as your faith,
Fishes and dragons follow your chanting,
And the eye still watches beyond the horizon
The holy light of your single lantern.
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Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Qian Qi (722 - 780), "送僧歸日本"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Abschiedsworte an einen japanischen buddhistischen Priester auf dem Weg in die Heimat", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-25
Line count: 8
Word count: 64
Abschiedsworte an einen japanischen buddhistischen Priester auf dem Weg in die Heimat
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Du warst vorherbestimmt, die Quelle zu finden.
Nun, da du deinen Weg gehst - wie in einem Traum,
dort, wo das Meer hochwogt zum Himmel,
entschwindest du der Welt in deinem zerbrechlichen Boot.
Das Wasser und der Mond sind so still wie dein Glaube,
Fische und Drachen folgen deinem Gesang,
und das Auge gewahrt noch hinter dem Horizonte
das heilige Licht deiner einzigen Lampe.
Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English by Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968), "Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward", appears in The Jade Mountain, first published 1929
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Qian Qi (722 - 780), "送僧歸日本"
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-06
Line count: 8
Word count: 64