Note 33 — INTRODUCTION.
Herbert Allen Giles translation
The great poet Tu Fu (A.D. 712–770) dreamt that his greater predecessor, Li T‘ai-po (A.D. 699–762) appeared to him, “coming when the maple-grove was in darkness, and returning while the frontier-pass was still obscured;”—that is, at night, when no one could see him; the meaning being that he never came at all, and that those “who know me (P‘u Sung-ling)” are equally non-existent. return to text