Thanking Master Zhang With A Poem
I tend to love quiet now in my evening years,
not caring much about much in the world.
Making no long-term plans, I just keep to myself.
Emptied of knowledge, I have returned to the woods.
A breeze blows through the pines, loosening my robe.
The mountain moon is my lamplight for playing the qin.
You ask for the secret of transcending all worldly matter:
just listen to the fisherman’s song coming down the river.
translated from Chinese by Susan Wan Dolling
not caring much about much in the world.
Making no long-term plans, I just keep to myself.
Emptied of knowledge, I have returned to the woods.
A breeze blows through the pines, loosening my robe.
The mountain moon is my lamplight for playing the qin.
You ask for the secret of transcending all worldly matter:
just listen to the fisherman’s song coming down the river.
translated from Chinese by Susan Wan Dolling