The Old Harp | The Old Lute | Of cord and cassia-wood is the harp compounded

by Bai Juyi (772 - 846)

Translation by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969)

廢琴

Language: Chinese (中文)

絲桐合為琴，
中有太古聲。
古聲澹無味，
不稱今人情。
玉徽光彩滅，
朱弦塵土生。
廢棄來已久，
遺音尚泠泠。
不辭為君彈，
縱彈人不聽。

何物使之然，
羌笛與秦箏。

Confirmed with Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (ed.). Quan Tang shi 全唐詩 (Complete Tang Poems), Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985.

Text Authorship:

by Bai Juyi (772 - 846), "廢琴" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969) , "The Old Harp", appears in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems, first published 1918 ; composed by Benjamin Britten.
- Go to the text.

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Jonathan Leathwood

This text was added to the website: 2025-04-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 12

Of cord and cassia‑wood is the harp...

Language: English after the Chinese (中文)

Of cord and cassia-wood is the harp compounded;
Within it lie ancient melodies.
Ancient melodies -- weak and savourless,
Not appealing to present men’s taste.
Light and colour are faded from the jade stops:
Dust has covered the rose-red strings.
Decay and ruin came to it long ago,
But the sound that is left is still cold and clear.
I do not refuse to play it, if you want me to:
But even if I play, people will not listen.

How did it come to be neglected so?
Because of the Ch'iang flute and the Ch'in flageolet.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• B. Britten

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View text with all available footnotes

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

Note: in Arthur Waley's book, the final line has the following footnote: "Barbarous modern instruments".

Text Authorship:

by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), "The Old Harp", appears in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems, first published 1918 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Bai Juyi (772 - 846), "廢琴"
- Go to the text page.

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

by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The Old Lute", op. 58 no. 2 (1957) [ tenor and guitar ], from Songs from the Chinese, no. 2, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Jonathan Leathwood

This text was added to the website: 2014-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 96