by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935)
Forth from the eastern gate my steeds I...
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文)
Forth from the eastern gate my steeds I drive, And lo! a cemetery meets my view; Aspens around in wild luxuriance thrive, The road is fringed with fir and pine and yew. Beneath my feet lie the forgotten dead, Wrapped in a twilight of eternal gloom; Down by the Yellow Springs[2] their earthly bed, And everlasting silence is their doom. How fast the lights and shadows come and go! Like morning dew our fleeting life has passed; Man, a poor traveller on earth below, Is gone, while brass and stone can still outlast. Time is inexorable, and in vain Against his might the holiest mortal strives; Can /we/ then hope this precious boon to gain, By strange elixirs to prolong our lives? . . . Oh, rather quaff good liquor while we may, And dress in silk and satin every day!
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935), "The Elixir of Life" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [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), "Life's elixir", 1939, published 1941 [ voice and piano ], from Ten Songs from the Chinese, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-12-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 141