by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Li‑Si
Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)
Dans les jardins du palais,
la brise caresse les jeunes fleurs des lotus.
Etendu parmi les coussins de soie qui diaprent la terrasse,
l'Empereur se repose.
Li-Si, la belle favorite, danse,
plus légère que la première écharpe de brume,
plus brillante que la première étoile.
Elle vient de se coucher près du souverain.
Ses paupières battent, ses hanches ondulent.
Maintenant, elle baisse les yeux sous le regard impérial.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 99-100.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762) [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 Marie Marjori Hajary (1921 - 2017), "Li-'Si", 1950 [ voice, 2 flutes, viola and violoncello ], from Flûte de jade, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Armande de Polignac (1876 - 1962), "Li-Si", published 1922 [ medium voice and piano ], from La flûte de jade, no. 5, Genève, Éd. A. Henn, also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Armande de Polignac.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Judith Gautier (1845 - 1917) , "Ivresse d'amour", appears in Le livre de jade, 1902 edition, first published 1902 ; composed by Gabriel-André Fabre.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946) , "Liebestrunken", appears in Die chinesische Flöte ; composed by Max Ast, Henriëtte Bosmans, Hans Ebert, Maria Herz, Artur Immisch, Leonard Pieter Joseph Michielsen, Franz Moser, Julius Röntgen.
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] , Sharon Krebs
[Senior Associate Editor]This text was added to the website: 2008-02-19
Line count: 10
Word count: 68
Li‑Si
Language: English after the French (Français)
In the palace gardens,
the breeze caresses the blooming lotus flowers.
Stretched out among the silken cushions that bespeckle the terrace,
the Emperor takes his rest.
Li-Si, his beautiful mistress, dances,
lighter than the first ribbon of mist,
brighter than the first star.
She has just lain down next to her sovereign.
She bats her eyelids, she sways her hips.
Now, she lowers her eyes under the imperial gaze.
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.
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Based on:
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762) [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-25
Line count: 10
Word count: 69
