by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762)
Translation by Logan Pearsall Smith (1865 - 1946)

The Sages' Dance
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文) 
On my flute with tips of jade
Sweet the music that I played,
Sang my song to men, but they
From my singing turned away.

So I held my flute on high,
To the Sages in the Sky
Played and sang, and they entranced
On the floor of Heaven danced.

Men now listened to my song,
Bade me sing it all day long,
Praised my music, as I played
On my flute with tips of jade.

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Stuart Merrill (1863 - 1915) ; composed by Arthur Farwell, Margaret Ruthven Lang.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "La danse des dieux" ; composed by Rosalie Marie Wertheim.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946) , "Der Tanz der Götter" ; composed by Lise Maria Mayer, Anatol Provaznik.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred Henschke (1890 - 1928) ; composed by Volkmar Andreae, Kurt Brüggemann.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Heilmann (1859 - 1930) ; composed by Adolf Schreiber.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2022-01-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 76