by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935)
Don't come in, sir, please!
Language: English after the Chinese (中文)
Don't come in, sir, please! Don't break my willow-trees! Not that that would very much grieve me; But, alack-a-day! what would my parents say? And love you as I may, I cannot bear to think what that would be. Don't cross my wall, sir, please! Don't spoil my mulberry-trees! Not that that would very much grieve me; But, alack-a-day! what would my brothers say? And love you as I may, I cannot bear to think what that would be. Keep outside, sir, please! Don't spoil my sandal-trees! Not that that would very much grieve me; But, alack-a-day! what the world would say! And love you as I may, I cannot bear to think what that would be.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935), "To a young gentleman", appears in Chinese Poetry in English Verse, London, Quartich, first published 1898 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , from National Odes of China, collected by Confucius [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951), "To a young gentleman", from Water-Colors: Four Chinese Tone Poems, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Don't come in, sir, please!", op. 43 (Four Songs) no. 2, published 1905 [ voice and piano ], London: Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henri Pierre Roché (1879 - 1959) ; composed by Albert Roussel.
Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 18
Word count: 118