Poem on growing old
The poem on this fan reads:
Regretfully, the work you gave me comes too late,
For no old tree can gain its youth again.
Alchemic mercury, crucible burned, has the science of long life,
Yet, in the mirror, my white hair already looks its age.
Features I’ve had all along, forget me now;
In the end, to whom belongs the passing of time?
Just as no one sees the lashes before his eyes,
So do men renowned in later times lean on those who have gone before.
—Translation by Marc F. Wilson and Kwan S. Song
Regretfully, the work you gave me comes too late,
For no old tree can gain its youth again.
Alchemic mercury, crucible burned, has the science of long life,
Yet, in the mirror, my white hair already looks its age.
Features I’ve had all along, forget me now;
In the end, to whom belongs the passing of time?
Just as no one sees the lashes before his eyes,
So do men renowned in later times lean on those who have gone before.
—Translation by Marc F. Wilson and Kwan S. Song
Artwork Details
- 明 王鏊 行書詩 扇頁
- Title: Poem on growing old
- Artist: Wang Ao (Chinese, 1450–1524)
- Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Date: 16th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on gold-patterned paper
- Dimensions: 6 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (17.1 x 50.2 cm)
- Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
- Object Number: 1989.363.49
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Wang Ao
late 15th or early 16th century
Wang Ao
dated 1498
China
16th century
China
China
early 15th century
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