Wide sleeves sway. Scents, Sweet scents Incessantly coming. It is red lilies, Lotus lilies, Floating up, And up, Out of Autumn mist. Thin clouds Puffed, Fluttered, Blown on a rippling wind Through a mountain pass. Young willow shoots Touching, Brushing, The water Of the garden pool.
Four Songs (from Fir Flower Tablets)
Song Cycle by Catherine Urner (1891 - 1942)
1. Dancing [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Amy Lowell (1874 - 1925), "Dancing", appears in Fir-Flower Tablets. Poems from the Chinese
- by Florence Wheelock Ayscough (1878 - 1942), "Dancing", appears in Fir-Flower Tablets. Poems from the Chinese
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Yang Kuei-Fei (719 - 756) [text unavailable]
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Confirmed with Fir-Flower Tablets. Poems from the Chinese. Poems translated from the Chinese by Florence Ayscough. English versions by Amy Lowell, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1921. Note: the poem indicates the author of the original Chinese is also known as the "White Poplar" imperial concubine of the Emperor Ming Huang.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. Songs of the Courtesans [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Incessant the buzzing of insects beyond the orchid curtain. The moon flings slanting shadows from the pepper-trees across the courtyard. Pity the girl of the flowery house, Who is not equal to the blossoms Of Lo Yang.
Text Authorship:
- by Amy Lowell (1874 - 1925), "Ch'in, the 'Fire-bird with plumage white as jade,' longs for her lover", appears in Fir-Flower Tablets. Poems from the Chinese, in Songs of the Courtesans, no. 4
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Confirmed with Florence Wheelock Ayscough & Amy Lowell, Fir-Flower Tablets: Poems Translated from the Chinese, Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1921
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
Total word count: 83