A classical Chinese line for “I feel alone beneath the sky”

Thinking of the endlessness of heaven and earth, alone in sorrow I shed tears.

Plain meaningThe scale of time and the world can make one person's loneliness feel overwhelming.

No one knows me in the deep forest; the bright moon comes to shine upon me.

Plain meaningEven in solitude, the moon can feel like quiet company.

In a lone boat, an old man in a straw cape fishes alone in the snowy river cold.

Plain meaningOne person remains steady in a vast and empty winter world.

After choosing through every cold branch, it still refuses to settle, alone on the chilly sandbar.

Plain meaningI would rather remain alone than settle where I do not belong.

We look at each other without tiring—only Mount Jingting and I.

Plain meaningNature can be the companion that never exhausts you.

The moon sets, crows cry, and frost fills the sky; beside river maples and fishing lights, I lie awake in sorrow.

Plain meaningI cannot sleep on this cold and lonely night.