P e n ta s y l l a biC Sh i P oe t ry : l anD s C a P e anD Fa rm s t e aD P oe m s 125
C 6. 2
On Drinking Wine, No. 5 飲酒 其五 (yĭn jŭ qí wŭ)I built my hut in the midst of men, 結廬在人境 (jié lú zài rén jìng)
2 Yet hear no clamor of horse and carriage. 而無車馬喧 (ér wú jū mă xuān)
You ask how it can be like this? 問君何能爾 (wèn jūn hé néng ĕr)
4 With the mind detached, place becomes remote. 心遠地自偏 (xīn yuăn dì zì piān)
Plucking chrysanthemums by the eastern hedge, 採菊東籬下 (căi jú dōng lí xià)
6 From afar I catch sight of the southern mountain. 悠然見南山 (yōu rán jiàn nán shān)
The mountain air becomes lovely at sunset, 山氣日夕佳 (shān qì rì xī jiā)
8 As flying birds return together in flocks. 飛鳥相與還 (fēi niăo xiāng yŭ huán)
In these things there is true meaning, 此中有真意 (cĭ zhōng yŏu zhēn yì)
10 I’d like to explain, but have forgotten the words. 欲辨已忘言 (yù biàn yĭ wàng yán)
[TYMJJJ, 219–220]
The poet’s detached mind (set into relief by the location of his house amid
civilization) renders possible the insight of the last couplet. That reclusion is less
about physical place than a state of mind is perhaps Tao’s most powerful state-
ment on reclusion. Receptivity to daily scenes in nature often taken for granted
depends on the recluse’s state of mind. A detached mind is the precondition for
the poet’s attention to details and the chance interplay of these details: he plucks
chrysanthemums (often infused in wine for prolonging life) as he happens to
catch sight of the southern mountain, symbol of longevity; and he notices the
lovely air at dusk as he happens to see the homing birds. The sudden revelation
named in the last couplet seems to have evoked a transcendent state of mind
that is not merely impossible but undesirable to capture with words. Indeed, this
couplet has remained so effective precisely for what it promises but does not say.
The source of the last couplet is three passages in the Zhuangzi, either arguing for
the incapacity of language for total expression or prizing meaning over its vehicle:
words.6 Suggesting meaning beyond the words, a literary quality that became in-
creasingly valued, points to the text’s possibility of perpetual signification and
continual savoring.
The poet may be reticent, but the literary critic can nonetheless ponder on and
say something about this insight in the last couplet. First of all, it involves the ex-
quisite delight the poet finds in the commonplace activities of rustic living, such as
plucking chrysanthemums and observing the mountain scene at dusk. Second, it
may well be a recognition of correlations between the natural and human realms,
whose intersections are often overlooked by men absorbed in the humdrum of
mundane life. There are hidden significances in the natural world that either cor-
respond to or are revealed by human actions: the birds’ natural instinct to return
home corresponds to the poet’s return, which he presents elsewhere in his writ-
ings as his natural course; and as the poet picks chrysanthemums (a substance for
prolonging life), he sees the southern mountain (a symbol of long life). Therein lies
a truth that no amount of language can adequately convey. Third, it seems to mark