Tao Yuan Ming: Return to the Country

This is my take on the much loved verses of the Chinese poet Tao Yuan Ming, also known as Tao Chien, 365-427. It is also in part an 'apologia pro vita sua' and an autobiographical statement. The photographs are of my partner and me, our house and garden and the koi carp we used to keep. Tennyson asked that his poem 'Crossing the Bar' should be printed at the end of his collected poems. If ever my poetry is collected, I think that this poem would serve a similar purpose!


Tao Yuan Ming: Return to the Country

(transposed into English by Charles Bryant)


As a child, I hardly knew the world,
lived in my own mind and was content,
untouched by anything much but poetry,
songs of the great high hills and distant mountains.
Rapidly grew; was cast into the net
that folds itself more closely as we move:
struggle draws it tight; it is the self.
Sad to see the caged bird dream of freedom,
fluttering unstretched wings upon his bar.
Sad to see the pond fish breaking surface,
finding that his river has contracted.

A small house and a smaller garden;
willows smother my windows. The front
of the house faces east, the back the west.
Our patio open to the southern sky.
Shielded from the north by other houses.
In the afternoon I listen to the silence,
sunlight soaking every pore; closed eyelids.
My unchanging rooms seclude me.
My partner brings me happiness and peace.
People rarely come. We are contented.
Space and time to know oneself,
return to the inner being always there.

Here, we are far from the city.
No high-speed train connects us to the capital.
Long time ago the Roman walked these roads
but he is long since gone; his walls are rubble,
his empire passed, his language now defunct.
In course of time, we too shall share his fate.

I know that these are not mere empty phrases:
All our lives are shadows on a wall
which disappear when once the sun has set.

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[twinnumber3]

I see you make beautiful things, not only in poems but also in gardens- and in life. Thank you for sharing these.

[brychar66]

You're very sweet Jonathan. Thank you.

[PoetLina]

Carp prefer deep water, rarely surfacing; thank you for surfacing today. (Always amazed by your scholarship - love the lines "cast into the net/ that folds itself more closely as we move:/ struggle draws it tight; it is the self" 5* Fav.

[brychar66]

Many thanks Halina. The Chinese poets are a wonder - no surprise that their nation for so long took its cultural superiority for granted!

[Idlinfarm]

This is so beautiful I wish for better words to tell you that.

[brychar66]

Those words say it all Ida. I think we share the Taoist approach. Bless you.

[jjaggers]

exquisite...

[heartbeat3]

Your partner brings you happiness and peace.

Your wonderful recitations bring me happiness

and peace

thank you so much

[CHMATOSOVIDEOS01]

How Peaceful!

How Rich!

How full of Love!

Thank you so much

Love

Pios

[richardyingren]

Wonderful, much to think on, thankyou.

[EROSGODOFGAYS]

Time, like a thief, slowly steals the pieces of our lives one by one and leaves us only with memories of who we once were. Of times spent dreaming and planning the new. When the set years of our lives seemed like a forever, a naivety of our youth. Not knowing that all our lives are shadows on a wall which disappear when once the sun has set.

you are my kindred spirit, Charles. We feel the presence of time.

[StudioResurrezione1]

Bliss!!