With a deep yearning I think of the sages of antiquity.
-- T'ao Ch'ien
(from, Shady, Shady the Wood in front of the Hall;
translation by Arthur Waley)
Hermit in Autumn Mountain (1939)
by Qi Kun (Ch'ien Kun)
(from, www.artvalue.com)
There is a sense of serene joyful-sadness in these sparse words. The poet links the "distant, distant clouds" with the "ancient sages," thus revealing his cravings and longings. He can see the clouds, yet he cannot touch them. Because he experiences this deep yearning, he knows that he is connected to these sages....simultaneously he is separated and joined to these distant clouds.
