by T'ao Ch'ien (365 - 427)
Translation by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872 - 1945)
Song of the peach‑blossom fountain
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文)
Furl your sail! O furl your sail! Homeward calls the nightingale. Little scholar clad in blue, Heal the wound of me and you; Broken links are forged anew In the vales of Arcady. Dusky blossom, mount of Peaches. Light me through your tunnel'd reaches, Where a shaft of gold displays Suns of vanish'd worlds, and yesterdays. In yon many-mazèd nook Bring my childish dreams to book, Haunting gleams and shadow traces Drift of long-forgotten races. Little ghost in scholar's gown Like a star come trailing down. We will share a brighter birth Than the bonded thralls of Earth. There, with all my songs unsung Lay me, where the heart was young.
Text Authorship:
- by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872 - 1945) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by T'ao Ch'ien (365 - 427) [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Song of the peach-blossom fountain", 1943, published 1946 [ voice and piano ], London, Chappell & Co.  [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-03-11
Line count: 20
Word count: 111