The inlaid harp | I wonder why my inlaid harp has fifty strings

by Li Shangyin (c813 - c858)

Translation by Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968)

錦瑟

Language: Chinese (中文)

錦瑟無端五十絃， 
一絃一柱思華年。
莊生曉夢迷蝴蝶， 
望帝春心託杜鵑。
滄海月明珠有淚， 
藍田日暖玉生煙。
此情可待成追憶， 
只是當時已惘然。

Text Authorship:

by Li Shangyin (c813 - c858), "錦瑟" [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) , "The inlaid harp", appears in The Jade Mountain, first published 1929 ; composed by John Beckwith.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-22
Line count: 8
Word count: 8

The inlaid harp

Language: English after the Chinese (中文)

I wonder why my inlaid harp has fifty strings,
Each with its flower-like fret an interval of youth.
...The sage Chuangzi is day-dreaming, bewitched by butterflies,
The spring-heart of Emperor Wang is crying in a cuckoo,
Mermen weep their pearly tears down a moon-green sea,
Blue fields are breathing their jade to the sun....
And a moment that ought to have lasted for ever
Has come and gone before I knew.

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Text Authorship:

by Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968), "The inlaid harp", appears in The Jade Mountain, first published 1929 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Li Shangyin (c813 - c858), "錦瑟"
- 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 Beckwith (1927 - 2022), "The inlaid harp", 1947 [ high voice and piano ], from Five Lyrics of the T'ang Dynasty, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-22
Line count: 8
Word count: 71