Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward | You were foreordained to find the source

by Qian Qi (722 - 780)

Translation by Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968)

送僧歸日本

Language: Chinese (中文)

上國隨緣住， 
來途若夢行。
浮天滄海遠， 
去世法舟輕。

水月通禪寂， 
魚龍聽梵聲。
惟憐一燈影， 
萬里眼中明。

Text Authorship:

by Qian Qi (722 - 780), "送僧歸日本" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968) , "Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward", appears in The Jade Mountain, first published 1929 ; composed by Edmund Duncan Rubbra.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-25
Line count: 8
Word count: 8

Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward

Language: English after the Chinese (中文)

Our translations: GER

You were foreordained to find the source.
Now, tracing your way -- as in a dream
There where the sea floats up the sky,
You wane from the world in your fragile boat.

The water and the moon are as calm as your faith,
Fishes and dragons follow your chanting,
And the eye still watches beyond the horizon
The holy light of your single lantern.

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Text Authorship:

by Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968), "Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward", appears in The Jade Mountain, first published 1929 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Qian Qi (722 - 780), "送僧歸日本"
- 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 Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist priest bound homeward", op. 116 no. 5 (1962) [ soprano and harp ], from The Jade Mountain, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Abschiedsworte an einen japanischen buddhistischen Priester auf dem Weg in die Heimat", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-25
Line count: 8
Word count: 64