"I reached Cold Mountain and all cares stopped.
No idle thoughts remained in my head. Nothing to do I write poems on the rocks. And trust the current like an unmoored boat"
Han Shan, Cold Mountain Poems.
There is so much here in such a short and concise poem. But that is the way with poetry. Good poetry doesn't inform us as much as it points to something. The rest is up to the reader. Words are sorely imprecise as it is. What we typically consider as informative, is often tainted with intent and loaded with extraneous meaning. Ironically, apparently vague and mysterious poetry is much more direct and informative as long as the reader is willing to do his/her part.
To that end, I'm not going to explicate Han Shan's entry noted above. That would only reveal my interpretation. What fun is that?
No idle thoughts remained in my head. Nothing to do I write poems on the rocks. And trust the current like an unmoored boat"
Han Shan, Cold Mountain Poems.
There is so much here in such a short and concise poem. But that is the way with poetry. Good poetry doesn't inform us as much as it points to something. The rest is up to the reader. Words are sorely imprecise as it is. What we typically consider as informative, is often tainted with intent and loaded with extraneous meaning. Ironically, apparently vague and mysterious poetry is much more direct and informative as long as the reader is willing to do his/her part.
To that end, I'm not going to explicate Han Shan's entry noted above. That would only reveal my interpretation. What fun is that?
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