处世若大梦， 胡为劳其生。 所以终日醉， 颓然卧前楹。 觉来盼庭前， 一鸟花间鸣。 借问此何时， 春风语流莺。 感之欲叹息， 对酒还自倾。 浩歌待明月， 曲尽已忘情。
Text Authorship:
- by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春日醉起言志" [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 Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935) ; composed by Cyril Meir Scott.
- Also set in English, a translation by Lawrence Kenneth Moss (1927 - 2022) , "On drinking wine!", written 2018, first published 2018, copyright © 2018 ; composed by Lawrence Kenneth Moss.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955) , "Un jour de printemps", subtitle: "Le poète écrit quelques vers à la louange de l'ivresse", appears in La flûte de jade ; composed by Marie Marjori Hajary.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred Henschke (1890 - 1928) , "Im Frühling", appears in Li Tai-pe ; composed by Emil Anner, Helmut Barbe.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946) , "Der Trinker im Frühling", appears in Die chinesische Flöte [an adaptation] ; composed by Hans Altmann, Felicitas Kukuck, Gustav Mahler, Emil Sjögren.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Shigeyoshi Obata) , "Awakening From Sleep On A Spring Day", copyright status unknown
- FRE French (Français) (Marie Jean Léon, Marquis d'Hervey-Saint-Denys) , "Un jour de printemps" [an adaptation]
Researcher for this page: Corey Luis
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 12
Puisque la vie est décevante comme un rêve, pourquoi se tourmenter ? Je préfère m'enivrer jusqu'à tomber. C'est ce que j'ai encore fait, hier. A mon réveil, j'ai regardé autour de moi. Un oiseau gazouillait parmi les fleurs. Je l'ai prié de me renseigner sur la saison, et il m'a répondu que nous étions à l'époque où le printemps fait chanter les oiseaux. Comme j'étais près de m'attendrir, je me suis encore versé à boire, j'ai chanté jusqu'au lever de la lune, et j'ai, de nouveau, perdu la notion des choses.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 103-104.
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Un jour de printemps", subtitle: "Le poète écrit quelques vers à la louange de l'ivresse", appears in La flûte de jade [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春日醉起言志"
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), "Un Jour de Printemps", 1950 [ voice, 2 flutes, viola and violoncello ], from Flûte de jade, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "A Spring Day", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-25
Line count: 13
Word count: 90