As the years go by, give me but peace,
Freedom from ten thousand matters.
I ask myself and always answer:
What can be better than coming home?
A wind from the pine-trees blows my sash,
And my lute is bright with the mountain moon.
You ask me about good and evil fortune?....
Hark, on the lake there's a fisherman singing!
Original Poem:
「酬张少府」
王维
晚年惟好静， 万事不关心。
自顾无长策， 空知返旧林。
松风吹解带， 山月照弹琴。
君问穷通理， 渔歌入浦深。
Interpretation:
This poem was written by Wang Wei in his later years when he was living in Rim River with his friends, and the author of the whole poem described himself as “good and quiet” in his aspirations.
The first four lines of the poem are all about feelings, implying the contradictory and bitter feelings after his ambitions could not be realized. The poet Wang Wei’s life, in his early years, also had the ambition to serve the king and the country, but in the era of the treacherous minister Li Linfu, such an ambition can not be realized. Therefore, the poet lamented that he could not change the social situation with his own strength, and in his old age, he had to retire to the mountains.
However, the poet’s mood is only a sinking, and then remembered the pleasure of living in seclusion. The poet has skillfully chosen a scene in the life of seclusion which is quite leisurely and comfortable to write. The author does not stop at writing about the scene, but integrates his own activities into the scene – undressing lightly in the breeze, sitting alone and playing the zither under the bright moonlight, so that the feelings and the scene, the person and the situation are naturally combined together.
Finally, the scene to realize the feelings, the question and answer form of conclusion. When confronted with a friend’s question about how to face poverty or prosperity, the poet does not answer it positively, but answers it by not answering it. What’s the point of asking about poverty and prosperity? Why don’t you just go back to your hometown like me, and face everything in a peaceful state of mind?
The poem ends with this final line, which is subtle and full of flavor, free and superb yet makes people think twice.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Wang Wei (王维), 701-761 A.D., was a native of Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. Wang Wei was a poet of landscape and idylls. His poems of landscape and idylls, with far-reaching images and mysterious meanings, were widely loved by readers in later generations, but Wang Wei never really became a man of landscape and idylls.
