My Comments This is a poem that sticks in my mind. I think it is probably because it is about how you see things, or don�t see them. It depends where you are and how you are looking at things. In this case a whole religious community is hidden by the clouds, and the men on the walls, possibly frontier sentries, only see the clouds. The monastery and monks are hidden completely from view. Perhaps this makes their refuge more remote and sheltered from ordinary people, so that they can focus on the spiritual side of their lives without interference. Do faint sounds of the chants reach the guards on the walls? Do they wonder about who could be up there in the mists? Have another look at the poem, shown below. Merv Daw |
| Window on Chinese Poetry |
"A poem to my brothers and sisters" by Wang Wei Hidden on this mountain, many Buddhist monks chant sutras, meditate together; men on distant walls gazing towards the peaks see only white, enshrouding clouds. |
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