by Tu Fu (712 - 770)
Translation by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935)
A petal falls! ‑‑ the spring begins to...
Language: English after the Chinese (中文)
A petal falls! -- the spring begins to fail, And my heart saddens with the growing gale. Come then, ere autumn spoils bestrew the ground, Do not forget to pass the wine-cup round. Kingfishers build where man once laughed elate, And now stone dragons guard his graveyard gate! Who follows pleasure, he alone is wise; Why waste our life in deeds of high emprise?
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935), "Solo chi segue ciò che piace é saggio" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Tu Fu (712 - 770) [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "A petal falls", 1939, published 1941 [ voice and piano ], from Ten Songs from the Chinese, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-12-26
Line count: 8
Word count: 63