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Rapide, ma barque file. Je contemple le fleuve. Des nuages errent dans le ciel. L'eau est aussi de la nuit claire. Quand un nuage glisse sur la lune, je le vois [glisser]1 sur le fleuve et il me semble que je vogue en plein ciel. Je pense à ma bien-aimée, qui se mire ainsi dans mon cœur.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 129-130.
1 Badings: "glisser aussi"Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Évocation", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Chang-Wou-Kien (1879 - 1931) [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 Henk Badings (1907 - 1987), "Evocation", 1973 [ mixed chorus ], from Cinq poèmes chinois, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by René Bernier (1905 - 1984), "Evocation", 1923, published 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Poèmes exotiques, no. 1, Bruxelles : Maison de Aynssa E. de Saedeleer & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Bled , "Évocation", 1946 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacqueline Despas (1893 - 1968), "Évocation", published 1926 [ medium voice and piano ], from Poèmes Chinois Extraits de La Flûte de jade, no. 4, Éd. Jean Jobert [sung text not yet checked]
- by Odette Gartenlaub (1922 - 2014), "Évocation", 1950 [ voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Franz Toussaint, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Evocation", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2024-11-13
Line count: 9
Word count: 58
Swiftly, my boat sails along. I contemplate the river. Clouds are roaming in the sky. The water like the night glistens. When a cloud glides across the moon, I see it [gliding]1 across the river and I seem to be sailing in midair. I think about my beloved, who is likewise mirrored in my heart.
1 Badings: "gliding also"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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 French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Évocation", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Chang-Wou-Kien (1879 - 1931) [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-09
Line count: 9
Word count: 56