“Sitting Alone by Jingting Mountain”

The flocks of birds have flown high and away,

a solitary cloud goes off calmly alone.

We look at each other and never get bored–

Just me and Jingting Mountain.

To me, this short, four-line Tang poem has a lot of meaning. The narrator is completely alone, but feeling serenity out in nature on the mountain.

I heard a song on TV recently that reminds me of this poem: “Ends of the Earth” by Lord Huron:

To me, the song ultimately is about traveling the big world to discover the small world inside your soul. The protagonist of the song does not seem to want to do it alone at first, but in the end, he is completely content with it.

“Ends of the Earth” immediately begins with lines connecting to being at peace with nature. The most relevant connection to the poem is between mountains: “Oh, there’s a mountain that no man has mounted / I’m gonna stand on the peak.” Both protagonists in the poem and song feel a connection to the Earth that they do not believe anyone could understand.

The song line “To the ends of the Earth, would you follow me / There’s a world that was meant for our eyes to see” simply connects the desirability to travel for both the protagonists. The lines “what good is living a life you’ve been given / If all you do is stand in once place” showcases this as well, stressing the importance of freeing your soul through travel and away from society.

The song line “Oh, there’s an island where all things are silent / I’m gonna whistle a tune” shows how the song’s protagonist finds purpose in his travel, without any boredom. In this sense, he is using his own sounds to connect himself with the Earth, able to listen to himself in the silence. This connects to the poem’s line: “We look at each other and never get bored / Just me and Jingting Mountain.” In this line of the poem, the protagonist is connecting himself through vision, with him and the mountain “looking at one another.”

The last lines in the song: “Maybe I’m headin’ to die but I’m still gonna try / I guess I’m going alone” showcase the solo travel of both protagonists. For whatever reason, both proceed their journey solo, and therefore feel a stronger connection to nature and the Earth. The poem’s last line “Just me and the Jingting Mountain” shows the peace the poem’s protagonist made with himself, his soul, and with the Earth. Neither are truly alone, since they feel such a strong connection with the Earth.

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