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En files noirs, des oies sauvages traversent le ciel. On voit, dans les arbres, des nids abandonnés. Les montagnes semblent plus lourdes. J'ai trouvé près de ma fontaine, la flûte de jade que tu avais perdue, cet été. L'herbe haute l'avait soustraite à nos recherches. Mais l'herbe est morte, et la flûte brillait au soleil, ce soir. J'ai pensé à notre amour, qui est resté si longtemps enseveli sous nos scrupules.
L. Delune sets stanzas 2-3
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Je me promenais", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Chang-Wou-Kien (1879 - 1931) [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 Julián Bautista (1901 - 1961), "Je me promenais", op. 2 no. 1 (1921) [ voice and piano ], from La flûte de jade, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Therèse Brenet (b. 1935), "Je me promenais", copyright © 2008 [ baritone, flute and piano ], from Poème de Jade, no. 1, Editions de la Fabrique Musique [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Delune (1876 - 1940), "La Flûte de jade", 1922, published 1924, stanzas 2-3 [ medium voice, piano, flute ad libitum ], from Le Collier des offrandes, six poèmes lyriques d'après des poésies chinoises, no. 1, Paris, Éditions Hérelle, Fortemps, & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacqueline Despas (1893 - 1968), "Je me promenais", published 1926 [ medium voice and piano ], from Poèmes Chinois Extraits de La Flûte de jade, no. 1, Éd. Jean Jobert [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pierre, Baron de Maurice (1868 - 1936), "Je me promenais", op. 36 no. 1 (1925-1926), published [1927] [ voice and piano ], from La flûte de jade: Sept Poésies chinoises traduites par Franz Toussaint, no. 1, London, Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Guillaume de Sauville de la Presle (1888 - 1969), "La flûte de jade", 1922 [ medium voice and piano ]
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Gertrude Laughlin Joerissen) , "The lost flute", appears in The Lost Flute and Other Chinese Lyrics, no. 1
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-06-08
Line count: 14
Word count: 71
In black columns, the wild geese cross the sky. In the trees, one sees abandoned nests. The mountains seem heavier. Next to my fountain I found the jade flute that you'd lost this summer. The high grass had hidden it from our searching. But the grass is dead, and this morning the flute was gleaming in the sun. I thought of our love, which has remained so long buried beneath our misgivings.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Je me promenais" = "I was walking"
"La flûte de jade" = "The Jade Flute"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Je me promenais", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Chang-Wou-Kien (1879 - 1931) [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 72