Poems echo · Stories find a melody
Begin with a poem and meet it again in music. Listen, read the poem and explore the stories it inspires.
Chinese-Style Folk
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Zhao Shixiu's “Awaiting a Guest.” Plum rains shroud the homes, frogs call from the pond, and the expected guest has yet to arrive; a Go stone taps softly against the table's edge, while a single lamp casts the waiting long. The male and female versions share the complete lyrics and are recorded separately.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
An original Chinese-style song inspired by Wang Wei's “山中” (In the Mountains), moving from white stones and sparse red leaves onto a mountain path of deep green that feels cool and moist despite the absence of rain; male and female versions share the complete lyrics and are generated separately.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Li Bai’s Two Poems for Minister Zhang, Commandant of the Guards, on Bitter Rain at Princess Yuzhen’s Villa. 秋坐金张馆，繁阴昼不开；苦雨思白日，浮云何由卷。泥沙塞中途，牛马不可辨；厨灶无青烟，刀机生绿藓。弹剑谢公子，无鱼良可哀；功成拂衣去，摇曳沧洲傍。 Seated in autumn in the mansion of the Jin and Zhang, beneath thick clouds that never part by day; through relentless rain I long for sunlight—how can these drifting clouds be swept away? Mud and sand block the road, oxen and horses cannot be distinguished; no blue smoke rises from the kitchen stove, green moss grows on the knife and chopping board. Tapping my sword, I bid the noble host farewell; having no fish to eat is truly cause for sorrow. Once my work is accomplished, I shall shake out my robes and leave, wandering beside the blue waters. Confined to the villa by relentless rain: the gloomy weather never clears, the kitchen is cold, and clothes are pawned; the lament of tapping a sword with no fish to eat coexists with the resolve to depart once great deeds are done. Male and female voices sing the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Draws on Zhao Gu's “Late Autumn in Chang'an.” 云雾凄凉拂曙流，汉家宫阙动高秋；残星几点雁横塞，长笛一声人倚楼。紫艳半开篱菊静，红衣落尽渚莲愁；鲈鱼正美不归去，空戴南冠学楚囚。 Bleak clouds and mist drift through daybreak, deep autumn stirring among the imperial palaces; a few fading stars remain as geese cross the frontier, and a flute sounds as someone leans against a tower. Half-open purple chrysanthemums stand quiet by the fence; the islet's lotuses grieve, their red petals all fallen. Though the perch are at their finest, I do not return home, wearing a southern cap in vain like a captive of Chu. Daybreak in late-autumn Chang'an: bleak clouds and mist drift past the palaces, with fading stars, formations of geese, and a flute note as someone leans against a tower. The chrysanthemums by the fence are quiet, the lotuses on the islet sorrowful. Though the perch are at their finest, the speaker does not return home, vainly wearing a southern cap like a captive of Chu. Male and female vocals sing the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Drawn from Fan Chengda’s “浣溪沙·江村道中” (Silk-Washing Stream: On the Road Through a Riverside Village). “十里西畴熟稻香，槿花篱落竹丝长，垂垂山果挂青黄；浓雾知秋晨气润，薄云遮日午阴凉，不须飞盖护戎装。” For ten li, ripe rice scents the western fields; hibiscus blooms along fences and slender bamboo stretches tall, while mountain fruits hang heavy, green and yellow; thick mist announces autumn, the morning air is moist, thin clouds veil the sun with cool midday shade, and no carriage canopy is needed to shelter one’s military attire. Traveling through a riverside village in autumn: ripe rice scents ten li of fields, hibiscus flowers and bamboo fences line the way, and mountain fruits hang green and yellow; the morning mist is moist and the midday shade cool, with no need for a carriage canopy to shelter one’s military attire, leaving one free to walk amid the countryside’s autumn colors. Male and female vocals sing the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Drawn from Su Shi’s “To Liu Jingwen.” 荷尽已无擎雨盖，菊残犹有傲霜枝；一年好景君须记，最是橙黄橘绿时。 (“The lotuses are spent, their rain-shielding canopies gone, yet the fading chrysanthemums still have branches defying frost; remember the finest scenery of the year, when oranges turn yellow and tangerines remain green.”) A late-autumn gift to a friend: the lotus flowers have faded and their leaves withered, yet the last chrysanthemums still have branches that defy the frost; remember the year’s finest scenery—just when oranges have turned yellow and tangerines are still green. Male and female voices sing the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Su Shi's “Drinking on the Lake, First Clear, Then Rain · No. 2.” 水光潋滟晴方好，山色空蒙雨亦奇；欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓抹总相宜。 The shimmering water is lovely in sunshine, the misty mountain colors wondrous in rain; if West Lake were likened to the beauty Xizi, light makeup or rich adornment would suit her equally. While drinking on the lake, clear weather turns to rain: in sunshine, the shimmering water is just right, and in rain, the hazy mountains are wondrous too; comparing West Lake to Xizi, both light and heavy makeup suit her. Male and female voices sing the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Meng Jiao's 《游子吟》 (Song of the Traveling Son). 慈母手中线，游子身上衣；临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归。谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。 (Thread in a loving mother's hand becomes the clothes her traveling son wears; before he leaves, she stitches closely, fearing his return will be long delayed. Who says the heart of a mere blade of grass can repay the sunshine of all three months of spring?) A mother sewing clothes by lamplight before her child's departure: her stitches are close, for fear her son will return late; children, like tiny blades of grass, can never fully repay a mother's springlike love. Male and female voices sing the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Liu Yuxi's “Wuyi Lane.” 朱雀桥边野草花，乌衣巷口夕阳斜；旧时王谢堂前燕，飞入寻常百姓家。 Wild grasses bloom beside Vermilion Bird Bridge; the setting sun slants at Wuyi Lane's entrance. Swallows once before the halls of the Wang and Xie now fly into ordinary homes. A meditation on history in Jinling's Wuyi Lane: wild grasses flower beside Vermilion Bird Bridge, and the sun slopes west at the lane's entrance; the great Wang and Xie clans of the Eastern Jin have become traces of the past, and swallows from their halls fly into common people's homes. Male and female vocal versions share the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Wei Yingwu's “West Stream at Chuzhou.” 独怜幽草涧边生，上有黄鹂深树鸣；春潮带雨晚来急，野渡无人舟自横。 I cherish only the secluded grasses beside the stream; above them, orioles sing deep in the trees. Spring waters swell with rain, rushing faster at dusk; at the deserted rustic ferry, a boat lies crosswise on its own. Evening rain at Chuzhou's West Stream: a special love for the secluded grasses by the stream, with orioles singing hidden deep in the trees. Spring waters, swollen by rain, rush faster toward evening; no one is at the rustic ferry, and a little boat lies crosswise in the water on its own. Male and female vocal versions use the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Bai Juyi's “Grass on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell.” 离离原上草，一岁一枯荣；野火烧不尽，春风吹又生。远芳侵古道，晴翠接荒城；又送王孙去，萋萋满别情。 Lush grass spreads over the plain, withering and flourishing once each year; wildfires cannot burn it all away, the spring breeze blows and it grows again. Distant fragrant grass encroaches on the ancient road, sunlit green reaches the deserted city; once more I see a noble friend depart, the luxuriant grass brimming with the feeling of farewell. Spring grass on the ancient plain withers and flourishes year after year; wildfires cannot consume it, and the spring breeze brings it back. Fragrant grass spreads over the ancient road toward the deserted city, and amid its lush green, a friend is seen off on a distant journey. Male and female vocal versions use the same lyrics.
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Classical Chinese-style Ballad
Ku Wuji · AI Music
Inspired by Jia Dao's “Seeking a Recluse and Not Finding Him.” “松下问童子，言师采药去；只在此山中，云深不知处。” Beneath the pine, I ask the young attendant, who says his master has gone to gather herbs; he is somewhere on this mountain, but the clouds are too deep to know where. Beneath the pine, I ask the attendant where his master is: he has gone herb gathering, here on this mountain, but the clouds and mist are too thick to say exactly where. Male and female voices sing the same lyrics.
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