Song Cycle by Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (1868-1946)

1. The old fisherman of the mists and waters

Authorship

by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945) , "A world apart", from A Lute of Jade, being selections from the classical poets of China, published 1909

a text in Chinese by He Zhizhang (659-744) [text unavailable]

The Lady Moon is my lover,
My friends are the oceans four,
The heavens have roofed me over,
And the dawn is my golden door
I would liefer follow the condor
Or the seagull, soaring from ken,
Than bury my godhead yonder
In the dust of the whirl of men.

2. The ghost road

Authorship

by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945) , "The ghost road", from A Feast of Lanterns

a text in Chinese by Tu Fu (712-770) [text unavailable]

The winds and the pines are whispering,
The river girds in its flight,
My footfalls sound through ancient tiles...

[--- The rest of this text is not
currently in the database but will be
added as soon as we obtain it. ---]

3. Under the moon

Authorship

by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945) , "Under the moon", from A Lute of Jade, being selections from the classical poets of China, published 1909

a text in Chinese by Li-Tai-Po (701-762) [text unavailable]

Under the crescent moon's faint glow
The washerman's bat resounds afar,
And the autumn breeze sighs tenderly.
But my heart has gone to the Tartar war,
To bleak Kansuh and the steppes of snow,
Calling my husband back to me.

4. The celestial weaver

Authorship

by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945) , "The celestial weaver", from A Lute of Jade, being selections from the classical poets of China, published 1909

a text in Chinese by Han-ching T'ung (fl. 800) [text unavailable]

A thing of stone beside Lake Kouen-ming
Has for a thousand autumns borne the name
Of the Celestial Weaver. Like that star
She shines above the waters, wondering
At her pale loveliness. Unnumbered waves
Have broidered with green moss the marble folds
About her feet. Toiling eternally
They knock the stone, like tireless shuttles plied
Upon a sounding loom.
                       Her pearly locks
Resemble snow-coils on the mountain top;
Her eyebrows arch -- the crescent moon. A smile
Lies in the opened lily of her face;
And, since she breathes not, being stone, the birds
Light on her shoulders, flutter without fear
At her still breast. Immovable she stands
Before the shining mirror of her charms
And, gazing on their beauty, lets the years
Slip into centuries past her. . . .

5. Return of spring

Authorship

by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945) , "Return of Spring", from A Lute of Jade, being selections from the classical poets of China, published 1909

a text in Chinese by Sikong-Tu (834-903?8?) [text unavailable]

See other settings of this text

A lovely maiden, roaming
The wild dark valley through,
Culls from the shining waters
Lilies and lotus blue.
With leaves the peach-trees are laden,
The wind sighs through the haze,
And the willows wave their shadows
Down the oriole-haunted ways.
As, passion-tranced, I follow,
I hear the old refrain
Of Spring's eternal story,
That was old and is young again.

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