by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762)
Translation by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872 - 1945)
宣州謝朓樓餞別校書叔雲
Language: Chinese (中文)
棄我去者昨日之日不可留， 亂我心者今日之日多煩憂。 長風萬里送秋雁， 對此可以酣高樓。 蓬萊文章建安骨， 中間小謝又清發。 俱懷逸興壯思飛， 欲上青天覽日月。 抽刀斷水水更流， 舉杯銷愁愁更愁。 人生在世不稱意， 明朝散髮弄扁舟。
Confirmed with Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (ed.). Quan Tang shi 全唐詩 (Complete Tang Poems), Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985.
Text Authorship:
- by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "宣州謝朓樓餞別校書叔雲" [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 English, a translation by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872 - 1945) , "Drifting", appears in A Lute of Jade, being selections from the classical poets of China, first published 1909 ; composed by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred Henschke (1890 - 1928) , "Abschied", appears in Li Tai-pe ; composed by Volkmar Andreae, Alice Samter.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2025-04-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 12
We cannot keep the gold of yesterday
Language: English after the Chinese (中文)
We cannot keep the gold of yesterday;
To-day's dun clouds we cannot roll away.
Now the long, wailing flight of geese brings autumn in its train,
So to the view-tower cup in hand to fill and drink again,
And dream of the [greatest]1 singers of the past,
Their fadeless lines of fire and beauty cast.
I too have felt the wild-bird thrill of song behind the bars,
But these have brushed the world aside and walked amid the stars.
In vain we cleave the torrent's thread with steel,
In vain we drink to drown the grief we feel;
When man's desire with fate doth war this, this avails alone --
To hoist the sail and let the gale and the waters bear us on.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Bantock: "great"
Text Authorship:
- by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872 - 1945), "Drifting", appears in A Lute of Jade, being selections from the classical poets of China, first published 1909 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "宣州謝朓樓餞別校書叔雲"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Adrift" [ voice and piano ], from Songs from the Chinese Poets: Set III, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-01-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 125