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by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935)
Translation by Henri Pierre Roché (1879 - 1959)

Don't come in, sir, please!
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文) 
Don't come in, sir, please!
Don't break my willow-trees!
Not that that would very much grieve me;
But, alack-a-day! what would my parents say?
And love you as I may,
I cannot bear to think what that would be.

Don't cross my wall, sir, please!
Don't spoil my mulberry-trees!
Not that that would very much grieve me;
But, alack-a-day! what would my brothers say?
And love you as I may,
I cannot bear to think what that would be.

[Keep]1 outside, sir, please!
Don't spoil my sandal-trees!
Not that that would very much grieve me;
But, alack-a-day! what the world would say!
And love you as I may,
I cannot bear to think what that would be.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   J. Carpenter 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Carpenter: "Then keep"

Text Authorship:

  • by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935), "To a young gentleman", appears in Chinese Poetry in English Verse, London, Quartich, first published 1898 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , from National Odes of China, collected by Confucius  [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951), "To a young gentleman", from Water-Colors: Four Chinese Tone Poems, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Don't come in, sir, please!", op. 43 (Four Songs) no. 2, published 1905 [ voice and piano ], London: Elkin [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henri Pierre Roché (1879 - 1959) ; composed by Albert Roussel.
      • Go to the text.

Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 18
Word count: 118

À un jeune gentilhomme
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
N'entrez pas, Monsieur, s'il vous plaît,
Ne brisez pas mes fougères,
Non pas que cela me fasse grand'peine,
Mais que diraient mon père et ma mère?
Et même si je vous aime,
Je n'ose penser à ce qui arriverait.


Ne passez pas mon mur, Monsieur, s'il vous plaît,
N'abîmez pas mes primevères,
Non pas que cela me fasse grand'peine
Mais, mon Dieu! que diraient mes frères?
Et même si je vous aime,
Je n'ose penser à ce qui arriverait.



Restez dehors, Monsieur, s'il vous plaît,
Ne poussez pas mon paravent,
Non pas que cela me fasse grand'peine,
Mais, mon Dieu! qu'en diraient les gens?
Et même si je vous aime,
Je n'ose penser à ce qui arriverait.

Text Authorship:

  • by Henri Pierre Roché (1879 - 1959) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935), "To a young gentleman", appears in Chinese Poetry in English Verse, London, Quartich, first published 1898
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , from National Odes of China, collected by Confucius  [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Albert Roussel (1869 - 1937), "À un jeune gentilhomme", subtitle: "Ode chinoise", op. 12 no. 1 (1907-8), published 1921 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux poèmes chinois, no. 1, Éd. Rouart, Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 18
Word count: 117

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