No Escape

1 遍湖船泊波水平 Across the lake are boats anchored in the water’s calm,
2 安靜無風月照明 Secured safely under a windless night, the moon seems brighter.
3 入林又恐國憂危 Desiring retirement from officialdom, I still fret over the country’s future safety,
4 生中難脱一字情 All because I am unable to escape from this single word known as sentiment.

1 Boats represent the populace and the calmness of the waters represents the peace of the land.

2 Wind represents turbulence of the world, such as wars stirring up trouble. The moon seems brighter because of its reflection in the calm waters.

3 入林 – “entering the forest” means retirement from officialdom in pursuit of scholarly pleasures. The idea of this line was lifted from a poem but couldn’t recall it. A literal translation could be “Entering the forest and yet worrying and fearing dangers lying in wait for the country”.

4 It is difficult to encompass all the subtle meanings of 情 in a short translation. Loyalty, obligation, duty, responsibility etc. are the handmaidens to this word or rather to this character.

Saturday, August 6, 2022