处世若大梦， 胡为劳其生。 所以终日醉， 颓然卧前楹。 觉来盼庭前， 一鸟花间鸣。 借问此何时， 春风语流莺。 感之欲叹息， 对酒还自倾。 浩歌待明月， 曲尽已忘情。
Text Authorship:
- by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春日醉起言志" [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 Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935) ; composed by Cyril Meir Scott.
- Also set in English, a translation by Lawrence Kenneth Moss (1927 - 2022) , "On drinking wine!", written 2018, first published 2018, copyright © 2018 ; composed by Lawrence Kenneth Moss.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955) ; composed by Marie Marjori Hajary.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946) , "Der Trinker im Frühling", appears in Die chinesische Flöte [an adaptation] ; composed by Hans Altmann, Felicitas Kukuck, Gustav Mahler, Emil Sjögren.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred Henschke (1890 - 1928) , "Im Frühling", appears in Li Tai-pe ; composed by Emil Anner, Helmut Barbe.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Shigeyoshi Obata) , "Awakening From Sleep On A Spring Day", copyright status unknown
- FRE French (Français) (Marie Jean Léon, Marquis d'Hervey-Saint-Denys) , "Un jour de printemps" [an adaptation]
Researcher for this page: Corey Luis
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 12
Life is an immense dream. Why toil? All day long I drowse with wine, And lie by the post at the front door. Awakening, I gaze upon the garden trees, And, hark, a bird is singing among the flowers. Pray, what season may this be? Ah, the songster’s a mango-bird, Singing to the passing wind of spring. I muse and muse myself to sadness, Once more I pour my wine, and singing aloud, Await the bright moonrise. My song is ended— What troubled my soul?—I remember not
Confirmed with Shigeyoshi Ob Ata, The works of Li-Po; The Chinese Poet, London : J. M. Dent & Sons, 1923, p.60
Text Authorship:
- by Shigeyoshi Obata (1888 - 1971), as Shigeyoshi Ob Ata, "Awakening From Sleep On A Spring Day", copyright status unknown [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春日醉起言志"
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 ]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-10-01
Line count: 13
Word count: 87