Into the Woods, 18: Following the Deer (L'Envoi)

Deer Park

by Wang Wei

translated from the Chinese by David Hinton

No one seen. Among empty mountains,


hints of driftng voice, faint, no more.



Entering these deep woods, late sunlight

flares on green moss again, and rises.

* * *

Goodbye, deer friends, goodbye....

The poem above, by the Chinese painter/poet Wang Wei, was written during the Tang Dynasty, circa 750. (The poem has been translated into English many times, but David Hinton's well-known translation, and Billy Merrell's more recent translation,  are the ones I love best.)

The first image above is "Tall Pine Trees and Five Deer" by Dai Jin (a.k.a. Tai Chin, 1833-1462), founder of the Zhe School of Ming Dynasty painting. (Alas, none of Wang Wei's paintings have surived.) The second image is "Roe Deer in the Forest" by the award-winning animal photographer Ben Hall.