Learn by Songs 2 — Day 5 — Sitting Alone at Jingting Mountain
Li Bai wrote this poem in his later years, during a period of loneliness and disappointment after being pushed out of the imperial court. Sitting alone at Mount Jingting, with the birds flown away and even the clouds drifting off, only the mountain remains — and Li Bai turns the mountain into the one companion who never tires of his company.
Today's Vocabulary
众鸟
the flock of birds
众鸟高飞尽，
Zhòng niǎo gāo fēi jìn,
The flock of birds has flown high and vanished,
孤云
a lone cloud
孤云独去闲。
Gū yún dú qù xián.
a lone cloud drifts off unhurried, all by itself.
相看
to look at each other
相看两不厌，
Xiāng kàn liǎng bù yàn,
We look at each other, and neither ever tires of it,
不厌
never tire of
相看两不厌，
Xiāng kàn liǎng bù yàn,
We look at each other, and neither ever tires of it,
敬亭山
Mount Jingting
只有敬亭山。
Zhǐ yǒu Jìngtíng Shān.
only Mount Jingting and I remain.
Today's Grammar
The poem personifies the mountain — 'we look at each other and never tire of it' — turning a lifeless rock into the poet's only true friend. This technique of projecting human feeling onto nature (拟人, personification) is a recurring tool in classical Chinese poetry for expressing loneliness without self-pity.
众鸟高飞尽，
The flock of birds has flown high and vanished,
孤云独去闲。
a lone cloud drifts off unhurried, all by itself.
相看两不厌，
We look at each other, and neither ever tires of it,
只有敬亭山。
only Mount Jingting and I remain.