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Wei Yingwu is one of the more overlooked of Tang dynasty poets. Early on in life, he served in the role of imperial guardsman; but he left to pursue his education. The story goes that he had little interest in the cut and thrust of the literary world. He was a famously stern individual, but his poems are often wonderful in their simplicity and clarity of style.

This poem was written for one of Wei’s hermit friends. The last line — “Where could I find / the traces of your wandering?” — seems fitting in the present context.

Poem Sent to the Hermit of the Quanjiao Mountains

This morning, the government office is cold

and I suddenly I think of you, a hermit in the mountains,

at the foot of the stream bundling thorns for fuel,

coming home to boil white stones for food;

and I wish I could take a cupful of wine,

cross distances to comfort you, in the evening wind and rain.

But the leaves are falling— they cover the bald mountainsides.

Where could I find the traces of your wandering?

今朝郡齋冷 忽念山中客

澗底束荊薪 歸來煮白石

欲持一瓢酒 遠慰風雨夕

落葉滿空山 何處尋行跡