To my taste, no poet in any language (not even Shakespeare) knew
the bittersweet pleasure of being alone better than the mid-Tang poet Wang Wei 王维 (701-761). By way of a goodbye, I’d like to leave you with
one of my favorite of his poems. And
this doesn’t have to be a true parting, either. You can visit my website at www.eleanorgoodman.com, and of course I’ll
be visiting this site often to check out the new posts. Many thanks to Stacey and David for inviting
me to contribute, and to all of you for reading.
竹里馆
王维
独坐幽篁里
弹琴复长啸
深林人不知
明月来相照
A
Place Among Bamboo
Sitting alone in the bamboo grove
I play my lute and whistle back the tune.
The forest is deep, no one knows I’m here —
the moon comes to spread its light.
trans. Eleanor Goodman
–EG （顾爱玲）