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Le torrent bondit et gronde, le vent hurle dans les pins, les rats fuient à mon approche et vont se cacher sous les vieilles tuiles. Quel monarque, jadis, fit bâtir ce palais dont ne subsistent que des ruines au flanc d'une montagne abrupte ? Des flammes bleuâtres courent au ras du sol. On perçoit des gémissements, des râles. Ces Dix Mille voix de la nature forment un sauvage concert qui ajoute au tragique de l'automne. Le maître de ce palais avait de belles danseuses, qui sont aujourd'hui de la poussière froide. Il avait des chars, des guerriers. De tout ce faste, de toute cette gloire, que reste-t-il ? Un cheval de marbre, qui gît dans l'herbe. Mon immense tristesse, je voudrais l'épancher dans un poème durable, mais je pleure, et mon pinceau tremble.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 80-81.
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le palais ruiné", appears in La flûte de jade [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Tu Fu (712 - 770) [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 Armande de Polignac (1876 - 1962), "Le palais ruiné", published 1922 [ medium voice and piano ], from La flûte de jade, no. 8, Genève, Éd. A. Henn, also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Armande de Polignac.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Ruined Palace", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-02-19
Line count: 18
Word count: 131
The mountain stream leaps and roars, the wind howls in the pines, the rats flee at my approach and hide themselves under the old tiles. What monarch, years ago, built this palace of which nothing survives but ruins on the flank of a steep mountain? Bluish flames run along the ground. One can sense wheezing and groaning. These ten thousand voices of nature make a wild concert that adds to the tragedy of Autumn. The master of this palace had beautiful dancing girls, who today are cold dust. He had chariots, warriors. Of all this splendor, of all this glory, what remains? A horse of marble lying in the grass. I would like to pour out my immense sadness in enduring verse, but I weep, and my brush trembles.
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), "Le palais ruiné", appears in La flûte de jade
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Tu Fu (712 - 770) [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-05-13
Line count: 18
Word count: 129