The Jade Mountain

Song Cycle by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986)

1. A night thought on Terrace Tower
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Far through the night a harp is sighing
With a sadness of wind and rain in the strings.
There's a solitary lantern, a bugle call
And beyond Terrace Tower down goes the moon.

Fragrant grasses have changed and faded
While still I have been hoping that my old friend would come.
There are no more messengers I can send him,
Now that the wild geese have turned south.

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Nächt'ger Gedanke auf dem Turm der Zitadelle", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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: Ferdinando Albeggiani

2. On hearing her play the harp
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Her hands of white jade by a window of snow
Are glimmering on a golden fretted harp
And to draw the quick eye of Chou Yü,
She touches a wrong note now and then.

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Ihr Harfenspiel hörend", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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: Ferdinando Albeggiani

3. An autumn night message
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
As I walk in the cool of the autumn night,
Thinking of you, singing my poem,
I hear a mountain pinecone fall;
You also seem to be awake.

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Botschaft einer Herbstnacht", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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: Ferdinando Albeggiani

4. A song of the Southern River
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Since I married the merchant of Ch'üt'ang
He has failed each day to keep his word.
Had I thought how regular the tide is,
I might rather have chosen a riverboy.

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Lied des südlichen Flusses", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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: Ferdinando Albeggiani

5. Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
You were foreordained to find the source.
Now, tracing your way -- as in a dream
There where the sea floats up the sky,
You wane from the world in your fragile boat.

The water and the moon are as calm as your faith,
Fishes and dragons follow your chanting,
And the eye still watches beyond the horizon
The holy light of your single lantern.

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Abschiedsworte an einen japanischen buddhistischen Priester auf dem Weg in die Heimat", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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: Ferdinando Albeggiani
Total word count: 225