Li Bai is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets in Chinese history.
独坐敬亭山[1]
众鸟高飞尽，
孤云独去闲[2]。
相看两不厌[3]，
只有敬亭山。
《独坐敬亭山》是李白公元753年秋游宣城时写的一首小诗。第一句“众鸟高飞尽”先写众鸟之“动”，然后一个“尽”字却是静态；第二句“孤云独去闲”也是先写孤云之动，然后一个“闲”字表示静态。前两句都是以“动”衬“静”，以物喻人，“孤”和“闲”写的是云，其实也象征诗人的孤独和悠闲。后两句“相看两不厌，只有敬亭山”却是静态，写诗人对山有情，山对诗人也有情，这就把山人格化了。山有情可以反衬出权贵对诗人无情；诗人和山互相有情则是达到情景交融、“天人合一”的境界了。
注释：
[1]敬亭山：在今安徽省宣城市北。
[2]闲：形容云彩飘来飘去，悠闲自在的样子。
[3]厌：满足。
Sitting Alone in Face of Peak Jingting[1]
All birds have flown away,so high;
A lonely cloud drifts on,so free.
We are not tired,the Peak and I,
Nor I of him,nor he of me.
Notes：
[1]North of Xuancheng,in present-day Anhui Province.
“Sitting Alone on Jingting Mountain” is a short poem written by Li Bai when he visited Xuancheng in the autumn of 753 AD. The first sentence “All the birds fly high” first describes the “movement” of all the birds, and then the word “all” represents static state; the second sentence “The lonely cloud goes away leisurely” also first describes the movement of the lonely cloud, and then the word “leisure” represents static state. The first two sentences both use “movement” to contrast “stillness” and use objects to describe people. “Lonely” and “leisure” describe clouds, which actually symbolize the poet’s loneliness and leisure. The last two sentences “I never get tired of looking at each other, only Jingting Mountain” are static state, describing the poet’s affection for the mountain, and the mountain’s affection for the poet, which personifies the mountain. The affection of the mountain can contrast the ruthlessness of the powerful to the poet; the affection between the poet and the mountain reaches the realm of the fusion of emotions and scenes and the unity of man and nature.
