Tang Dynasty
Moored at Xunyang at Nightfall, Looking toward Mount Lu
Meng Haoran
挂席几千里，名山都未逢。
泊舟浔阳郭，始见香炉峰。
尝读远公传，永怀尘外踪。
东林精舍近，日暮空闻钟。
Translation
I have raised my sail and traveled thousands of miles, yet have met no mountain truly worthy of fame. Only when I moored my boat outside Xunyang did I first see Incense Burner Peak. I once read the biography of Master Huiyuan, and have long cherished his traces beyond the dust of the world. Donglin Monastery is already near, yet at dusk I can only hear its bell in vain.
Analysis
"Moored at Xunyang at Nightfall, Looking toward Mount Lu" is a travel poem by Meng Haoran. It begins as a poem of river journey and mountain viewing, but it soon turns toward religious and reclusive longing. The opening couplet says that the poet has sailed thousands of miles without encountering a truly famous mountain. This is not a literal geographical statement so much as a way of elevating Mount Lu. After a long journey, no mountain has fully satisfied him — until this moment. The second couplet places the scene precisely. The boat is moored outside Xunyang, near present-day Jiujiang in Jiangxi. From there, the poet first sees Incense Burner Peak, one of the famous peaks of Mount Lu. The phrase "first see" carries the quiet excitement of arrival and discovery. The third couplet turns from landscape to spiritual memory. "Master Yuan" refers to Huiyuan, the eminent Eastern Jin Buddhist monk who lived at Donglin Monastery on Mount Lu. Having read Huiyuan's biography, the poet has long admired his life beyond worldly dust. The mountain therefore becomes more than scenery; it becomes a site of spiritual aspiration. The final couplet is understated but powerful. Donglin Monastery is near, yet evening has fallen, and the poet can only hear its bell. The word "only" or "in vain" gives the ending a sense of distance and incompletion. The place he longs for is close, but not fully reachable. The poem's movement is elegant: travel, first sight of Mount Lu, memory of Huiyuan, and the distant sound of the monastery bell. It transforms a landscape encounter into a meditation on withdrawal from the world. Meng Haoran does not claim to have attained that world; he remains on the boat at dusk, listening. This tension between nearness and distance is the poem's emotional center. The monastery is close, the bell is audible, but the poet is still outside. The result is a quiet longing for purity, seclusion, and spiritual freedom.
About the Author
Meng Haoran was a major Tang dynasty poet from Xiangyang, best known for his landscape and pastoral poetry. He is often paired with Wang Wei under the name "Wang-Meng." Meng spent much of his life in reclusion, travel, and brief attempts at official service. His poems often treat mountains, rivers, rural life, journeys, partings, and the desire for withdrawal from worldly affairs. His style is clear, natural, spacious, and lightly shaped, with emotional depth beneath plain language. He had a major influence on the development of High Tang landscape and pastoral poetry.