By Tao Yuanming 陶渊明IMAGE © SHUTTERSTOCKSubstance, Shadow and Spirit
The Great Potter cannot Intervene
All creation thrives of itself.
That Man ranks with Earth and Heaven,
Is it not because of me?
Though we belong to different orders,
Being alive, I am joined to you.
Bound together for good or ill
I cannot refuse to tell you what I know:
The Three August Ones were great saints
But where are they living today?
Though P’eng-tsu lasted a long time
He still had to go before he was ready.
Die old or die young, death is the same,
Wise or stupid, there is no difference.
Drunk, every day you may forget,
But won’t it shorten your life span?
Doing good is always a joyous thing
But no one has to praise you for it.
Too much thinking harms my life;
Just surrender to the cycle of things,
Give yourself to the waves of the Great Change
Neither happy nor yet afraid.
And when it is time to go, then simply go
without any unnecessary fuss.
The Spirit responds
Published in The Poetry of T‘ao Ch‘ien by
James Hightower, Clarendon Press, 1970
大钧无私力，万理自森著。
人为三才中，岂不以我故。
与君虽异物，生而相依附。
结托既喜同，安得不相语。
三皇大圣人，今复在何处？
彭祖爱永年，欲留不得住。
老少同一死，贤愚无复数。
日醉或能忘，将非促龄具。
立善常所欣，谁当为汝誉？
甚念伤吾生，正宜委运去。
纵浪大化中，不喜亦不惧。
应尽便须尽，无复独多虑。形影神三首
神释Published by SEHNSUCHTX on WordPressTAO YUANMING, also known as Tao Chien
(365–427 AD), is widely considered one of the
greatest poets of the Six Dynasties Era (220–
AD). In 405, after the death of his sister, he gave up
his job as a government official and spent the rest
of his life as a reclusive poet.timeless