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by Bai Juyi (772 - 846)
Translation by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969)

Three Commentaries: The Philosopher
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文) 
"Those who speak know nothing;
Those who know are silent."
These words, I am told,
Were spoken by Lau Tzu.
If we are to believe that Lau Tzu
Was himself one who knew,
How comes it that he wrote a book
Of five thousand words?

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Chinese (中文) by Bai Juyi (772 - 846) [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Kenneth Hesketh (b. 1968), "Three Commentaries: The Philosopher", first performed 2007 [ voice and piano ], from Shimmerwords and Idle Songs, no. 3b, confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-01-25
Line count: 8
Word count: 45

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