World, Chapter 7, section 25, p.105.

　　   (25) See Liu Chun's comments to chapter IV,  section

　　　　   85, p.137.

　　　　　　　　　　　　  P.357

　　   finement: "the extreme beauty of T'ao Ch'ien's poems

　　   cannot be equaled by any other works because no poet

　　   had ever given  so much of his inner  experience  in

　　   his works." (26) His path of progress  may be traced

　　   in a poem simply entitled "Going Back to the Farm":

　　　　  When young, ill at ease with the common world,

　　　　  Naturally (hsing pen) loving hills and mountains.

　　　　  Mistakingly  [I]  fell into  the  midst  of  the

　　　　  worldly web,

　　　　  Onec gone [into the web] thirty years [went by].

　　　　  The caged bird pines for the forest of old,

　　　　  The ponded fish mourns for past depths.

　　　　  Clearing wilderness on the borders of the south-

　　　　  ern wasteland,

　　　　  Guard the stupid self back down on the farm;

　　　　  The place is more than a mu,

　　　　  [With] a grass shelter of eight or nine units

　　　　  Elms and willows shelter the eaves behind,

　　　　  Peach and plum trees overarch the building in front.

　　　　  Dimly seen, the far off village,

　　　　  Hovering [above], the village smoke;

　　　　  A dog barks deep within the lane,

　　　　  A rooster crows from the topmost branch of the mulberry tree.

　　　　  Door [shelter] and yard devoid of worldly confusion,

　　　　  Empty rooms overflowing with ease/tranquility.

　　　　  So long caged/confused within,

　　　　  [Now] returned, back to tzu-jan.(27)

　　   The  poem  begins  with  a depiction  of  his  early

　　   preference  for Nature (" naturally loving hills and

　　   mountains") and corresponding  uneasiness  with  the

　　   mundane world.  This is followed by an interlude  of

　　   alienation  from  Nature  and self.  This  stage  is

　　   vividly  depicted  in terms  of a bird or fish  torn

　　   from its natural habitat and

　　   ────────────

　　   (26) Chang Chung-yuan, Creativity and Taoism, p.191

　　   (27) My translation.

　　　　　　　　　　　　  P.358

　　   forced into the artificial restrictions of a cage or

　　   pond.  In each case longing remains for what was-the