Songs from the Chinese

by Blair Fairchild (1877 - 1933)

1. Sailing Homeward  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Cliffs that rise a thousand feet
Without a break,
Lake that stretches a hundred miles
Without a wave,
[Sands that are white all through the year,
Without a stain,]1
Pine-tree woods, winter and summer
Ever-green,
Streams that for ever flow and flow
Without a pause,
Trees that for twenty thousand years
Your vows have kept,
You have suddenly healed the pain of a traveller's heart,
And moved his brush to write a new song.

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), "Sailing homeward", first published 1919

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1 omitted by Gibbs.

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1. Invocation

Language: French (Français) 
Cîmes qui dressez vos fronts
 . . . . . . . . . .

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2. The Red Cockatoo  [sung text not yet checked]

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

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Confirmed with Arthur Waley, Chinese Poems, Dover Publications, 2000, page 167, an unabridged republication of the work published in 1946 in London by George Allen and Unwin.


Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

2. Le Perroquet rouge

Language: French (Français) 
On a reçu jadis d'Annam
 . . . . . . . . . .

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3. Night  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
A bright moon illumines the night-prospect;
The house-cricket chirrups on the eastern wall.
The Handle of the Pole-star points to the Beginning of Winter;
The host of stars is scattered over the sky.
The white dew wets the moor-grasses --
With sudden swiftness the times and seasons change.
The autumn cicada sings among the trees,
The swallows, alas, whither are they gone?
Once I had a same-house friend,
He took flight and rose high away.
He did not remember how once we went hand in hand,
But left me like footsteps behind one in the dust.
In the South is the Winnowing-fan and the Pole-star in the North,
And a Herd-boy whose ox has never borne the yoke.
A friend who is not firm as a great rock
Is of no profit and idly bears the name.

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Confirmed with Arthur Waley, Chinese Poems, Dover Publications, 2000, pages 59-60, an unabridged republication of the work published in 1946 in London by George Allen and Unwin.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. La Nuit

Language: French (Français) 
Quand la lune éclaire la nuit
 . . . . . . . . . .

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4. Old Poem  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
At fifteen I went with the army,
At fourscore I came home.
On the way I met a man from the village,
I asked him who there was at home.
"That over there is your house,
All covered over with trees and bushes."
Rabbits had run in at the dog-hole,
Pheasants flew down from the beams of the roof.
In the courtyard was growing some wild grain;
And by the well, some wild mallows.
I'll boil the grain and make porridge,
I'll pluck the mallows and make soup.
Soup and porridge are both cooked,
But there is no one to eat them with.
I went out and looked towards the east,
While tears fell and wetted my clothes.

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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.

Confirmed with Arthur Waley, Chinese Poems, Dover Publications, 2000, page 51, an unabridged republication of the work published in 1946 in London by George Allen and Unwin.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

4. Vieux Poème

Language: French (Français) 
A quinze ans parti pour l'armée
 . . . . . . . . . .

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5. Plucking rushes  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Green rushes with red shoots,
Long leaves bending to the wind --
You and I in the same boat
Plucking rushes at the Five Lakes.
We started at dawn from the orchid-island;
We rested under the elms till noon.
You and I plucking rushes
Had not plucked a handful when night came!

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), "Plucking the rushes", subtitle: "A boy and girl are sent to gather rushes for thatching"

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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.

Confirmed with Arthur Waley, Chinese Poems, Dover Publications, 2000, page 109, an unabridged republication of the work published in 1946 in London by George Allen and Unwin.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

5. En cueillant des roseaux

Language: French (Français) 
Longs roseaux aux fleurs rouges
 . . . . . . . . . .

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  • a text in English by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), "Plucking the rushes", subtitle: "A boy and girl are sent to gather rushes for thatching"

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6. Cock‑crow Song
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Ah! In the eastern quarter dawn breaks
Ah!  The stars flincker pale
The morning cock at Junan
Ah! Mounts the wall and crows.

The songs are over the  clock run down
but still the feast is set
The moon grows dim and the stars are few;
Ah! morning has come to the  world.

Ah!

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Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

6. Réveille‑matin

Language: French (Français) 
L'Orient s'éclaire là-bas
 . . . . . . . . . .

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7. New Corn  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Swiftly the years, beyond recall.
Solemn the stillness of this fair morning.
I will clothe myself in spring-clothing
And visit the slopes of the Eastern Hill.
By the mountain-stream a mist hovers,
Hovers a moment, then scatters.
There comes a wind blowing from the south
That brushes the fields of new corn.

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Confirmed with Arthur Waley, A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems, London: Constable, 1918.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

7. Le Grain nouveau

Language: French (Français) 
Les années passent et sans retour
 . . . . . . . . . .

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8. A bad bargain  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
A long time ago
I went on a journey,
Right to the corner
Of the Eastern Ocean.
The road there
Was long and winding,
And stormy waves
Barred my path.
What made me
Go this way?
Hunger drove me
Into the World.
I tried hard
To fill my belly:
And even a little
Seemed a lot.
But this was clearly
A bad bargain,
So I went home
And lived in idleness.

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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.

Confirmed with Arthur Waley, A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems, London: Constable, 1918.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

8. L'Inutile voyage

Language: French (Français) 
Au temps passé j'allai en voyage
 . . . . . . . . . .

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Total word count: 603