Lotus Picking Song
Lotus Picking Song 彩莲曲[edit]
Harvesting Lotus by Li Bai 李白 ( (701–762)), mid-Tang Dynasty [1] 唐朝
- Girls picking lotus on Ruye brook, Laughter and chatter ring amidst the blossoms.
- Sun and water reflect their new make-up, Wind carries perfume from fluttering sleeves.
- What lucky gents loiter by the shore, Resting in 3s and 5s in the willow shade.
- Neighs of my scarlet steed scatter the flowers, my stomach is torn by this shattered scene.[2]
- (Quotes from the reference.)
- 若耶溪边采莲女，笑隔荷花共人语。
- 日照新妆水底明，风飘香袂空中举。
- 岸上谁家游冶郎，三三五五映垂杨。
- 紫骝嘶入落花去，见此踟蹰空断肠。
Notes[edit]
The following notes are based on this Chinese reference for poems with the same title. This Li Bai is the third poem.
Note 1. Lotus (荷花 or 莲花) has been harvested since ancient times. "Rouye" Brook 若耶溪 is located in the Shaoxing area of Jiangnan. The roots were for food and the seeds for medicine. It was labor traditinally done by young farm girls from low boats. Naturally the local boys like to watch.
Note 2. The girls obliged. They dressed and used make-up for this work. The idyllic scene became a romantic tradition. Many many poets wrote about it. Lotus picking also became forms of entertainment, to gather the flowers and also for drinking parties. The poems are being written to this day.
Note 3. This poem evokes the happy and carefree scene. Suddenly it ends when the horse shattered the moment. Li Bai regretted the transitory nature of youth and joy. Perhaps he was also envious. This is a classic poetic device, to suddenly turn the mood at the end in a contrary direction.
Note 4. When a young girl pines for a distant lover she goes to pick lotus. This is often a romantic theme in poetry and song.
Note 5. Li Bai wrote many many poems about women, all kinds of women, including young girls, merchant wives, warrior wives, palace women, fighting women and more. They are lively with feeling. The images evoke their lives and show spiritual and mental disposition. There are women with difference characters drawn from a wide range of society.[3]
"Das Lied von der Erde", Mahler 马勒《大地之歌》 [4] [5][edit]
Mahler's choral symphony "Das Lied von der Erde" uses lyrics based on classic Chinese poems, 4 by Li Bai, a poet of the Tang dynasty This one is in the 4th movement, "Von der Schönheit" ("Of Beauty"). The German text was re-written from the 19th c. French translation of the poem. This is discussed extensively in the Wiki on "Das Lied" in the sections "Origins", "Text of Das Lied ...", and "Text in Mahler's Sources". The Mahler choral text by necessity differs from the Bethge German text ( Bethge's Die chinesische Flöte) since it must be set to music.
From the above, first two stanzas rendered into English are quoted below from the wiki. The German choral text can be found in the link .
"Young girls picking flowers, Picking lotus flowers at the riverbank. Amid bushes and leaves they sit, gathering flowers in their laps and calling one another in raillery.
Golden sun plays about their form reflecting in the clear water. The sun highlights their slender limbs, their sweet eyes, and the breeze teasing up the warp of their sleeves, directs the magic of perfume through the air.
First 2 stanzas of Mahler German text from the wiki:.
"Junge Mädchen pflücken Blumen, Pflücken Lotosblumen an dem Uferrande. Zwischen Büschen und Blättern sitzen sie, Sammeln Blüten in den Schoß und rufen. Sich einander Neckereien zu. Gold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalte,
Spiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider, Sonne spiegelt ihre schlanken Glieder, Ihre süßen Augen wider, Und der Zephir hebt mit Schmeichelkosen, Das Gewebe Ihrer Ärmel auf, Führt den Zauber Ihrer Wohlgerüche durch die Luft. "
Li Bai's contrasting sense of regret was removed here in this movement about beauty and youth. But it became a part of the engulfing complexity of this majestic symphony of life on Earth. Each poem became an element of this Mahler composition.[6]
References[edit]
- ↑ damaomao007 (2016-10-21). "[TRANSLATION]采莲曲 – Melody of Lotus Seed Picking". The Bridge. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ↑ "Picking Lotus". Flickr. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Analysis of Li Bai's Poetry and Women". Baidu Wenku. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911, composer., Das Lied von der Erde = The song of the earth, OCLC 1099471732, retrieved 2019-12-26CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
- ↑ "关于马勒《大地之歌》". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Mahler Archives "Der Schonheit"". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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