Home › Poems › Sitting Alone Facing Jingting Mountain
Dú Zuò Jìng Tíng ShānSitting Alone Facing Jingting Mountain 独坐敬亭山
Li Bai and a mountain that never tire of each other.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
众鸟高飞尽
zhòng niǎo gāo fēi jìn
孤云独去闲
gū yún dú qù xián
相看两不厌
xiāng kàn liǎng bù yàn
只有敬亭山
zhǐ yǒu jìng tíng shān
Simplified characters; traditional title: 獨坐敬亭山.
English translation
All birds have flown away, so high;
A lonely cloud drifts on, so free.
We are not tired, the Peak and I,
Nor I of him, nor he of me.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Everything leaves: the birds, even the cloud. What remains is the mountain, and the poet and mountain look at each other "without tiring." Li Bai gives the mountain eyes and feeling, which makes it a true companion — and quietly implies that people did tire of him. Loneliness and contentment are held in the same twenty characters.
Background
Written around 753 in Xuancheng (Anhui), after Li Bai had left court and spent years wandering.
Key words
- 众鸟 zhòng niǎo
- many birds
- 闲 xián
- leisurely, at ease
- 不厌 bù yàn
- never tiring of
About the poet: Li Bai
Li Bai (also romanized Li Po; courtesy name Taibai) is celebrated as the "Immortal of Poetry." Raised in Sichuan, he spent much of his life wandering, briefly served at the court of Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an, and is remembered for his love of wine, the moon and untamed nature. He and Du Fu are regarded as the two greatest poets of the Tang dynasty.
Lifetime: 701–762. Other famous works: Farewell to a Friend (送友人); Song of Qiupu (White Hair) (秋浦歌); Midnight Song of Wu (Autumn) (子夜吴歌); Question and Answer in the Mountains (山中问答); For Wang Lun (赠汪伦); The Road Is Hard (行路难); Sitting Alone Facing Jingting Mountain (独坐敬亭山); Written as a Traveler (客中作); Song of the Moon over Mount Emei (峨眉山月歌); Resentment (怨情); Farewell to Meng Haoran at Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵); Quiet Night Thoughts (静夜思); Bring In the Wine (将进酒); Drinking Alone Under the Moon (月下独酌); Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu (望庐山瀑布); Leaving Baidi City at Dawn (早发白帝城); The Hard Road to Shu (蜀道难).
More by Li Bai
- Quiet Night Thoughts静夜思
- Farewell to Meng Haoran at Yellow Crane Tower黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵
- Leaving Baidi City at Dawn早发白帝城
- Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu望庐山瀑布
- Drinking Alone Under the Moon月下独酌
- Midnight Song of Wu (Autumn)子夜吴歌
- Song of the Moon over Mount Emei峨眉山月歌
- Song of Qiupu (White Hair)秋浦歌