Shimmerwords and Idle Songs

Song Cycle by Kenneth Hesketh (b. 1968) 

(Selected Poems of the Tang Dynasty)

1. Travelling Moon
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
A traveller from the far off south lands
I set out as a crescent moon rose.
In a journey all distances
I saw clear moonlight three times full,
Trailed an old moon away at dawn,
Then met a new one for the night.
Who says the moon is heartless,
It's followed, it's followed me a thousand miles
Leaving a Wei riverbridge early,
I'm in changing streets by dusk,
But this moon keeps on trav'lling,
Stays the night who knows where?

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

2. Enjoying Pine and Bamboo
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Dragons and snakes haunt marshlands,
While paired deer roam thick grasslands.
Phoenixes live content in wutung trees,
While hermit fish delight in duckweed.
And I'm just like them, in love with my thatch hut,
My simple ways pure delight.
Pines out front, bamboo lofty in back,
I could idle away old age with ease here.
Ev'rything stays close to what keeps it content.
No matter what others may crave

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

3a. Three Commentaries: A Song at the Palace
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Now that the palace-gate has softly closed on its flowers,
Ladies file out to their pavilion of jade,
Abrim to the lips with imperial gossip
But not daring to breathe it with a parrot among them.

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3b. Three Commentaries: The Philosopher
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
"Those who speak know nothing;
Those who know are silent."
These words, I am told,
Were spoken by Lau Tzu.
If we are to believe that Lau Tzu
Was himself one who knew,
How comes it that he wrote a book
Of five thousand words?

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

3c. Three Commentaries: The Red Cockatoo
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Sent as a present from Annam --
A red cockatoo. 
Coloured like the peach-tree blossom, 
Speaking with the speech of men. 
And they did to it what is always done 
To the learned and eloquent. 
They took a cage with stout bars 
And shut it up inside.

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), "The Red Cockatoo", first published 1919

Based on:

See other settings of this text.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

4. Sitting Idle at the North Window
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
The window empty, two thickets of bamboo
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.
Total word count: 340