by Bai Juyi (772 - 846)
Translation by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969)

廢琴
Language: Chinese (中文) 



        

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



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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



        
        
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文) 

        

        
        
        
        
Of cord and cassia-wood is the lute 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 zithern of Ch'in.



        

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




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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