Inscription on a Bamboo Painting

Inscription on a Bamboo Painting

by Tang Yin

Slender bamboo outside the window, clear as daylight dims,

A mountain monk stirs from deep meditation, with arriving pilgrims.

Forbearing great temptation to wax lyrical about those boughs,

I know full well the world's supreme verse conveys no sound.

Tang Yin (1470-1523), usually known by his byname Tang Bohu, was a painter, calligrapher and poet whose life and cynical attitude became a part of popular lore.