English Rendering
Leaning alone in the close bamboos,
I am playing my lute and humming a song
Too softly for anyone to hear --
Except my comrade, the bright moon.
In a Retreat Among Bamboos
- Poetry of Wang Wei
《竹里馆》
Original Text (中文原文)
独坐幽篁里，弹琴复长啸。
深林人不知，明月来相照。
Analysis & Context
Five-character-quatrain
Composed around 750 AD during Wang Wei's reclusive years at his Wangchuan estate, this poem belongs to his celebrated Wangchuan Collection. Written after experiencing political disillusionment, it captures a moment of nocturnal solitude in a bamboo grove, embodying the poet's serene detachment from worldly concerns and his harmonious communion with nature.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Reading Between the Lines
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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- Mengcheng Mound
- The Summit Temple
- <Prelude to Water Melody> Sent to Ziyou on Mid-autumn Festival
- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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