Roussel had a pronounced taste for the exotic in music, but his exoticism is usually quite restrained. He in no way attempted to write spurious "Chinese music", although he spices these songs with occasional oriental touches such as pentatonic scales. In general, they can, and should, be enjoyed strictly as melodies, and not as exotic curiosities. Even the "exoticism" of the lyrics is third-hand; the poems were adapted by H.P. Roche from the English translation of Herbert Giles.

The Chinese songs are amongst Roussel's best. As Norman Demuth puts it, "In these three sets of Chinese lyrics, Roussel has given singers something unique in their repertoire, of porcelain fragility and of exquisite humor."

Amoureux séparés
A lovely maiden and a gallant youth lives in different kingdoms separated by mountains. The maiden asks the clouds to carry her over the mountains but they do not heed, and she is left with bittersweet thoughts of her unattainable lover.

These two songs are the first of Roussel's to display the clarity and concision that characterizes the music of his maturity. [Hugh MacDonald]

Two Chinese poems, opus 12 (1908) and 'Jazz dans la nuit' stand out among his songs. [Norman Lebrecht]

What is striking in À un jeune gentilhomme and Amoureux séparés is their lightness of rhythm and the colour of their melodic lines, characterized by pentatonic Chinese scales and delightful bowed strings. [Dom Angelico Surchamp]

In the Deux poemes chinois (op.12) Roussel found a literary tradition much more in accordance with his own fastidious tastes, and one that he translated into subtle and expressive music. [Basil Deane]

Réponse d'une épouse sage
This "Reply of a Virtuous Wife" is a breathtaking poem in which a noblewoman gives a suitor many reasons why she cannot accept his gift of two pearls. Only in the last line do we catch a glimpse of her true feelings, when she returns the two pearls with two tears for not having known him sooner.

If you never listen to any other melodie by Roussel, you should nonetheless try to listen to Réponse d'une épouse sage. It is exquisite, magical, an absolutely perfect fusion of the minds of poet and composer — even if the two were separated by 1100 years and half the globe!

"Knowing, sir, that I am married,
you have given me two precious pearls...."

....above all, the astounding Réponse d'une épouse sage. The intense humanity of this admirable piece never ceases to astound, for its means, although sober and simple, are put to an extraordinarily telling use. [Dom Angelico Surchamp]

The key to the interpretation of [Réponse d'une épouse sage] is the touching impassivity of the lady. She must affirm with great nobility, "The bonds of matrimony are not to be broken", thus confirming herself in her intransigent attitude; and the heartrending conclusion of her answer, so full of desperate regret, can, avoiding any sweet sentimentality, be extremely moving. [Pierre Bernac]

Réponse d'une épouse sage is perhaps one of the most extraordinary pieces that Roussel wrote. [Robert Bernard]

Réponse d'une épouse sage is outstanding.... Bernard's assertion that a whole volume would be necessary to analyse every aspect of this song may be an exaggeration. But it is certain that a substantial chapter could be devoted to these four pages of music, which constitute (to borrow Mr. Suckling's felicitous phrase) a 'serene resolution of feeling into form'. [Basil Deane]

Réponse d'une épouse sage is a miracle of concision, delineating the clash between public duty and private inclination with clear-eyed accuracy. [Roger Vignoles & Peter Reed]

Voix, de belles filles
This mélodie paints a brief but effective sound picture of a group of beautiful maidens running happily as though borne on the breeze. The (again unnamed) narrator comments on the beauty of "She who, tonight, is to be chosen." The listener is left to fill in who is chosen, for what, by whom, and why — and the way the unease of the music provides subtle, though inspecific clues, is a fine example of Roussel's allusive, rather than descriptive, art.

There is nothing static about it, and this feeling of motion is apparent in the slow songs as well. Similar comments can be made as regard the Deux Poemes Chinois, Op. 47. [Norman Demuth]

The two last Poèmes chinois... are even more concentrated than the earlier ones, combining discreet melancholy in Favorite abandonnée and uneasiness in Voix de belles filles, always with the utmost conciseness enabling him to conjure up a scene in a few sober musical phrases. [Dom Angelico Surchamp]