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Empty hill not see person
Yet hear person voice sound
Return scene enter deep forest
Duplicate light green moss on


Hills are empty, no man is seen,
Yet the sound of people's voices is heard.
Light is cast into the deep forest,
And shines again on green moss.

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1 - 6 of 6
  • Nam
    June 6, 2004
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    'Empty hill not see person'

    'Empty hill' I feel is metaphorical, speaking of something more than just it, I get the impression it's true because 'Empty' just seems to be metaphorical to me. Tho, it could be face-value and just mean a hill that has no one on it. And since no one is on it can't 'see' anyone.

    'Yet hear person voice sound'

    But, in this line, just because it can't 'see' anyone doesn't mean it can't 'hear anyone' and thus it can hear, from a distance, a person or persons coming or going.

    'Return scene enter deep forest
    Duplicate light green moss on'

    This gives me the image of a play, a production in comense and it's saying '..okay we're away from the hill and now we are seeing a forest, in the dark.' etc.


    'Hills are empty, no man is seen,
    Yet the sound of people's voices is heard.'

    And what I state above seems to be true since in the second line of this quote it states just that.

    'Light is cast into the deep forest,
    And shines again on green moss.'

    And now it is the opening of the darkness from that forest, and it shines once again.

    I find a philosophical feel to this, unlike those above which seem to think it has to do just with 'nature' I feel there is an underlining effect to this, breaking it all down: As to tho it can get dark, and nothing can be seen if you listen you can hear something and thus there is light.

    My impression.

    A good piece written by Wang Wei.


  • Candy N-G
    June 6, 2004
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    From what I read, I can understand that nature is it's own beauty. It doesn't need man's presences to understand its grace for the beauty still lays there. Even with the mere voice of man, does this not change. Nature is beauty without man in it.

  • blondeoverblue
    June 5, 2004
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    This is beautifully written. The sense that it gives to me is that life is all around us, in whatever guise it may take. Maybe not always one that we recognise. Nature is greater than we ever will be, and doesn't require our permission to exist.

  • Onyx Dragon
    June 5, 2004
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    This really is a powerful piece, the wording is so simple yet beautiful and the descriptions make you actually see it. So short and sweet yet it packs a punch. I'm sure it'd sound even more beautiful in the original language though.

  • satuRn
    June 5, 2004
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    that is so powerful.. i think even more than the poem itself, the stages of translation highlight the meaning. It just goes to show how much more magical it is to read the words and know their meaning than to simply read a direct or even grammatically remedied translation.. there must just be some words out there that have no meaning to english speakers... i love languages, and this poem is also a beautiful way to capture a moment.


  • August 26, 2003
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    I really love this poem. It shows me the eye in the sky over looking the way the land is changing. The hills are empty because man is not their to conquer them yet. It is an image to me, of a very nice time. Yet with voices heard this shows the power of both mountain and man. that man may conquer the earth but that the mountain will be that force to echo
    his voice.
    light visits the forest then, like man the mountain...the moss is small like man compared to forest which is more like a mountain next to grass. The light then becomes the focus as it will highlight that which can be seen most.
    and the light is like the force of life.
    this poem shows how nature is powerful.

1 - 6 of 6