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
Composed during Wang Wei's later years, this poetic response to Vice-Prefect Zhang reflects his withdrawal from political turmoil to the tranquil Wang River estate. Blending landscape with emotion, it conveys both his reclusive aspirations and resigned helplessness toward contemporary affairs.
First Couplet: "晚年惟好静，万事不关心。"
Wǎnnián wéi hào jìng, wànshì bù guānxīn.
"In age I cherish only quietude's art; / The world's ten thousand matters leave my heart."
The seemingly transcendent declaration carries subtle tension—"only" (惟) reveals this serenity stems from forced resignation rather than natural disposition.
Second Couplet: "自顾无长策，空知返旧林。"
Zìgù wú chángcè, kōng zhī fǎn jiù lín.
"Knowing myself lacking lasting strategies, / Vainly I seek my old woods' sanctuaries."
Self-deprecation masks profound sorrow over political impotence. "Vainly" (空) underscores the pathos beneath his homecoming—a retreat from frustrated ideals.
Third Couplet: "松风吹解带，山月照弹琴。"
Sōngfēng chuī jiě dài, shān yuè zhào tánqín.
"Pine breezes loosen my sash's embrace; / Mountain moonlight bathes the qin's grace."
Nature and art merge in perfect harmony. The unbuttoned sash symbolizes liberation, while moonlit music embodies spiritual communion—a masterful depiction of eremitic poetics.
Fourth Couplet: "君问穷通理，渔歌入浦深。"
Jūn wèn qióng tōng lǐ, yúgē rù pǔ shēn.
"You ask of fortune's rise and fall— / Fishermen's songs drift where river bends recall."
Alluding to the Chu Ci's "Fisherman," Wang transforms metaphysical inquiry into lyrical evasiveness. The receding songs symbolize wisdom beyond verbal explication.
Holistic Appreciation
The poem progresses seamlessly from self-revelation to landscape immersion before resolving in philosophical ambiguity. Wang Wei's signature "poetry within painting" technique fuses reclusive ideals with natural imagery, creating ethereal stillness. The artistic and metaphysical achieve perfect synthesis—where political disillusionment dissolves into Daoist transcendence.
Artistic Merits
- Linguistic restraint: Simple diction belies emotional complexity
- Symbolic precision: "Loosened sash" and "moonlit qin" epitomize spiritual freedom
- Allusive richness: The final fisherman reference channels Zhuangzi's paradoxes
- Structural harmony: Moves from confession to nature to philosophy with organic unity
Insights
Wang models how to cultivate inner peace when external change proves impossible. His retreat—neither escapist nor passive—becomes active spiritual resistance. The poem reminds us that true serenity often follows acknowledged limitations, and that nature and art can transfigure political despair into timeless beauty.
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.
