ChineseStudy

211. Bamboo Lodge | Wang Wei

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Text

English translation

Sitting alone among the secluded bamboo, I play the qin and then let out a long, clear whistle.

Youhuang is a quiet bamboo grove. The whistle is not a cry of grief but a sustained sound made with the lips. Sitting, playing, and whistling show solitude lived freely rather than endured.

Deep in the grove, no one knows that I am here; the bright moon comes and shines upon me.

There is no complaint in no one knows. The closing line treats the moon as a visitor: solitude unseen by others is acknowledged by moonlight and no longer feels enclosed.

赏析 · Commentary

独处不等于孤苦 · Solitude Without Misery

诗中只有一个人，却并不冷清。弹琴、长啸都是主动发出的声音；明月也不是远景，而是“来相照”。四句从人的动作写到月的回应，关系很简单：别人不知道诗人在这里，他也不需要向别人说明。竹林给了他一段不被打扰的时间。

Only one person appears, yet the poem is not desolate. Playing the qin and whistling are deliberate sounds, and the moon is not a distant view but something that comes to shine on him. The four lines move from human action to the moon's response. Others do not know he is there, and he has no need to explain himself; the bamboo grove gives him time free from interruption.

四个动作撑起四句诗 · Four Actions Hold the Poem Together

坐、弹、啸、照，是这首诗的骨架。前三个动作属于诗人，最后一个属于月亮。语言几乎没有修饰，幽深感来自空间本身：竹林包围着人，月光从林外进入。王维没有直说心境，读者从动作的从容里已经能看出来。

Sit, play, whistle, shine: these four verbs form the poem's frame. The first three belong to the poet, the last to the moon. There is little ornament. The sense of depth comes from the space itself, with bamboo around the figure and moonlight entering from beyond it. Wang Wei never names his mood; the unhurried actions make it visible.

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