Music Bureau | Something to Think About | The goddess I am thinking about

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by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762)

Translation © by Qi Feng Wu

乐府·有所思

Language: Chinese (中文)

Our translations: ENG

我思仙人，
乃在碧海之东隅。
海寒多天风，
白波连山倒蓬壶。
长鲸喷涌不可涉，
抚心茫茫泪如珠。
西来青鸟东飞去，
愿寄一书谢麻姑。

Note: 麻姑为道教所尊的女仙

Text Authorship:

by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "乐府·有所思" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Otto Hauser (1876 - 1944) ; composed by Alfred Bortz.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Qi Feng Wu) , "Music Bureau | Something to Think About", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Fan Yang

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-16
Line count: 8
Word count: 8

Music Bureau | Something to Think About

Language: English after the Chinese (中文)

The goddess I am thinking about,
Lives to the east of the blue-green ocean.
Where the water is cold and the wind is harsh,
The giant wave raise can push down Penglai and Fanghu.
Big whales block the way so no one can get there,
I gently touch my chest, tears running down like the pearls.
Only the green bird of West Queen can fly across the ocean to get there,
I would like to ask the bird to pass a letter for me to thank Ma Gu.

Translator's notes
Line 4: Penglai and Fanghu are two of the five sacred legendary Bohai Sea Shenshan mountain-islands in Chinese mythology.
Line 8 (and a translation of the note below the text on the left): Ma Gu is a female immortal revered by Taoism.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Chinese (中文) to English copyright © 2023 by Qi Feng Wu, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "乐府·有所思"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-07-19
Line count: 8
Word count: 88