by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Translation © by Grant Hicks

Sur les bords du Jo‑Yeh
Language: French (Français)  after the Chinese (中文) 
Our translations:  ENG GER
[Des jeunes filles cueillent des nénuphars
sur les bords du Jo-Yeh.]1
Parmi les bambous, elles s'interpellent
et se cachent en riant.
L'eau réfléchit leurs belles robes,
qui parfument la brise.

Des cavaliers passent entre les saules de la rive...
Un des chevaux hennit.
Son maître regarde en vain de tous côtés
et puis s'éloigne.
[Une]2 des jeunes filles
laisse tomber ses nénuphars et comprime son cœur
qui bat à grands coups.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   H. Badings 

View text without footnotes

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, page 70.

1 Badings: "Sur les bords du Jo-Yeh,/ des jeunes filles cueillent des nénuphars."
2 Badings: "Sur les bords du Jo-Yeh une"

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "On the Banks of the Jo-Yeh", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "An den Ufern des Jo-yeh", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-06
Line count: 13
Word count: 73

On the Banks of the Jo‑Yeh
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
[Girls are gathering water lilies
on the banks of the Jo-Yeh.]1
Amidst the bamboo, they call out to each other 
and playfully conceal themselves.
The water reflects their beautiful robes,
which perfume the breeze.

Horsemen ride by beneath the willows of the riverbank ...
One of the horses whinnies.
Its master looks all around in vain
and then moves off.
[One]2 of the girls 
drops her lilies and presses her hand to her heart,
which is pounding.

View text without footnotes
1 Badings: "On the banks of the Jo-Yeh,/ girls are gathering water lilies."
2 Badings: "On the banks of the Jo-Yeh one"

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-07
Line count: 13
Word count: 78