The thread in the hands of a fond-hearted mother Makes clothes for the body of her wayward boy; Carefully she sews and thoroughly she mends, Dreading the delays that will keep him late from home. But how much love has the inch-long grass For three spring months of the light of the sun?
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Confirmed with The Jade Mountain, translated by Witter Bynner and Jiang Kanghu, compiled by Sun Zhu, New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1929, p.107
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation by Harold Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968), "A Traveller's Song", subtitle: "(Written to Music)" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- Singable translation by Kiang Kang-hu (1883 - 1954), "A Traveller's Song", subtitle: "(Written to Music)" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Meng Jiao (751 - 814) [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 Lori F. Ardovino (b. 1960), "The Traveller's Song", copyright © 2024 [ soprano, alto saxophone and piano ], from Drinking With The Moon Alone, no. 2, Potenza Music Publishing
Publisher: Potenza Music Publishing [external link] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-11-06
Line count: 6
Word count: 53