The rushes on the marsh are green, And in the wind they bend. I saw a woman walking there, Near daylight's end. On the black water of the marsh, The lotus buds swim white. I saw her standing by the verge At fall of night. All the long night I lie awake, And sleep I cannot find. I see her slim as any rush Sway in the wind. I shut my eyes and see again The whiteness of her throat, On the black water of the night Like lotus float.
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Confirmed with Lyrics from the Chinese by Helen Waddell, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913, page 17.
Text Authorship:
- by Helen Jane Waddell (1889 - 1965), no title, appears in Lyrics from the Chinese, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , written c605 BCE [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 Phyllis Batchelor (1915 - 1999), no title, copyright © 2018 [ voice, flute and piano ], from Lyrics from the Chinese ; 8 settings of ancient lyrics, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949), "The rushes on the marsh are green", op. 125 (Ten Songs in Two Sets of Five Each, Set II) no. 3 (1938) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-01-21
Line count: 16
Word count: 90