Turned to jade are the boy’s rosy cheeks; To his sick temples the frost of winter clings. Do not wonder that my body sinks to decay; Though my limbs are old, my heart is older yet.
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.
Text Authorship:
- by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), first published 1946 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Bai Juyi (772 - 846) [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Depression", op. 58 no. 5 (1957) [ tenor and guitar ], from Songs from the Chinese, no. 5, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-11-04
Line count: 4
Word count: 36