Abandon books – end grief!
Respect or scorn?
How can you really tell what people think of you?
Good or bad?
What's the difference?
Yet I'd be a fool to ignore the common people's superstitions.
How isolated I am;
how vast the gulf between me and those unaware of their mortality.
They are excited as before a party
or when climbing to the terraces in springtime.
I watch alone like a forgotten child,
as weary as a refugee.
They all have abundant energy:
I alone am lacking.
Oh I have the heart of a fool.
For all my vaunted knowledge I have learnt nothing.
They're happy: I'm confused.
They're canny: I'm dumb.
What strange contrasts there are in the world:
Looking at a beautifully peaceful sea, who could imagine a tornado?
The populace work steadily for material goals;
I sit figuring it all out, possessing none of what they take for granted.
I know I don't belong -
yet I feel the pulse of eternity.
Respect or scorn?
How can you really tell what people think of you?
Good or bad?
What's the difference?
Yet I'd be a fool to ignore the common people's superstitions.
How isolated I am;
how vast the gulf between me and those unaware of their mortality.
They are excited as before a party
or when climbing to the terraces in springtime.
I watch alone like a forgotten child,
as weary as a refugee.
They all have abundant energy:
I alone am lacking.
Oh I have the heart of a fool.
For all my vaunted knowledge I have learnt nothing.
They're happy: I'm confused.
They're canny: I'm dumb.
What strange contrasts there are in the world:
Looking at a beautifully peaceful sea, who could imagine a tornado?
The populace work steadily for material goals;
I sit figuring it all out, possessing none of what they take for granted.
I know I don't belong -
yet I feel the pulse of eternity.
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