松下问童子
Beneath a pine I ask a young pupil;
言师采药去
He says his teacher has gone to gather herbs.
只在此山中
He is somewhere on this mountain,
云深不知处
But deep clouds hide the place.
What the poem means
Under a pine, a visitor asks a child where the teacher is. The teacher has gone into the mountains for herbs, but thick clouds hide the exact place. A short exchange opens a deep landscape.
Meet the poet
Jia Dao was a Tang poet. Brief replies open a landscape of pines, paths and clouds.
Jia Dao · More poems →