A bright moon illumines the night-prospect; The house-cricket chirrups on the eastern wall. The Handle of the Pole-star points to the Beginning of Winter; The host of stars is scattered over the sky. The white dew wets the moor-grasses -- With sudden swiftness the times and seasons change. The autumn cicada sings among the trees, The swallows, alas, whither are they gone? Once I had a same-house friend, He took flight and rose high away. He did not remember how once we went hand in hand, But left me like footsteps behind one in the dust. In the South is the Winnowing-fan and the Pole-star in the North, And a Herd-boy whose ox has never borne the yoke. A friend who is not firm as a great rock Is of no profit and idly bears the name.
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Confirmed with Arthur Waley, Chinese Poems, Dover Publications, 2000, pages 59-60, an unabridged republication of the work published in 1946 in London by George Allen and Unwin.
Authorship:
- by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), no title [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 Blair Fairchild (1877 - 1933), "Night", published 1922 [ medium voice and piano ], from Songs from the Chinese, no. 3, Éd. Durand, also set in French (Français) [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by L. Lemierre ; composed by Blair Fairchild.
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This text was added to the website: 2021-10-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 136