A beautiful place is the town of Lo-yang: The big streets are full of spring light. The lads go driving out with harps in their hands: The mulberry girls go out to the fields with their baskets. Golden whips glint at the horses' flanks, Gauze sleeves brush the green boughs. Racing dawn, the carriages come home,— And the girls with their high baskets full of fruit.
Poems from the Chinese
Song Cycle by Phyllis Campbell (1891 - 1974)
1. Lo‑yang [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), "Lo-yang"
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Emperor Jianwen of Liang (503 - 551) [text unavailable]
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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.
Confirmed with A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems. Translated by Arthur Waley, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1922. Note: Waley attributes the poem to the Emperor Ch'ien Wēn-ti [sixth century].
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. The Ferry [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Of marsh-mallows my boat is made, The ropes are lily-roots. The pole-star is athwart the sky: The moon sinks low. It's at the ferry I'm plucking lilies, But it might be the Yellow River — So afraid you seem of the wind and waves, So long you tarry at the crossing.
Text Authorship:
- by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), "The Ferry"
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) possibly by Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (464 - 549) [text unavailable] and possibly by Emperor Jianwen of Liang (503 - 551) [text unavailable]
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.
Confirmed with A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems. Translated by Arthur Waley, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1922. Note: above the poem, Waley indicates the original Chinese was written by "the Emperor Ch'ien Wēn-ti, of the Liang dynasty, who reigned during the year A. D. 500"; however, Emperor Jianwen was not yet born in that year so the poem may be by his father, Emperor Wu, who was also a poet and reigned in that year. The English translation has the following note, which is reproduced in Phyllis Campbell's score:
A lady is waiting for her lover at the ferry which crosses a small stream. When he does not come, she bitterly suggests that he is as afraid of the little stream as though it were the Yellow River, the largest river in China.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 117