by Tu Fu (712 - 770)
Translation by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935)
A picnic
Language: English after the Chinese (中文)
The sun is setting as we loose the boat, And lightly o'er the breeze-swept waters float. We seek a corner where the bamboo grows, And fragrant lilies offer cool repose. Here well-iced draughts of wine the men prepare, With lotus shredded fine by fingers fair. . . . But now a black cloud gathering in the sky Warns me to finish off my verse and fly.
Text Authorship:
- by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935), "A picnic" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Tu Fu (712 - 770) [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 Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "A picnic", op. 46 no. 2, published 1906 [voice and piano], from Songs of Old Cathay, no. 5, London : Elkin [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-04-24
Line count: 8
Word count: 66