by Hafis (Mohammed Schemsed-din) (c1327 - 1390)
Translation by Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947)
A caravan from China comes
Language: English  after the Persian (Farsi)
A caravan from China comes; For miles it sweetens all the air With fragrant silks and dreaming gums, Attar and myrrh -- A caravan from China comes. O merchant, tell me what you bring, With music sweet of camel bells; How long have you been travelling With these sweet smells? O merchant, tell me what you bring. A lovely lady is my freight, A lock escaped of her long hair, -- That is this perfume delicate That fills the air -- A lovely lady is my freight. Her face is from another land, I think she is no mortal maid, -- Her beauty, like some ghostly hand, Makes me afraid; Her face is from another land. The little moon my cargo is, About her neck the Pleiades Clasp hands and sing; Hafiz, 't is this Perfumes the breeze -- The little moon my cargo is.
Authorship:
- by Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947), "A caravan from China comes", appears in New Poems, first published 1910 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Persian (Farsi) by Hafis (Mohammed Schemsed-din) (c1327 - 1390) [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 Alice Barnett (1886 - 1975), "A caravan from China comes", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Elliott Griffis (1893 - 1967), "A caravan from China comes", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Warren Storey-Smith (1855 - 1971), "A caravan from China comes", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Josephine Uterhart , "A caravan from China comes", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-16
Line count: 25
Word count: 140