Eight of the loneliest verses in history

The first level

Wanting to pay my heart to the yaoqin. There are few soulmates, who will listen when the strings are broken?

--Yue Fei, "Little Heavy Mountain, Last Night's Cold Grasshopper Couldn't Stop Chirping"

[Translation]

I want to give my heart full of sadness to the yaoqin to play a song. But I don't have a lot of friends in the high mountains and flowing water, even if the strings of the zither are broken, who will listen to me?

The second level

The old road, the west wind thin horse.

The sun sets in the west, and the broken hearted are at the end of the world.

--Ma Zhiyuan, "Tianjingsha--Autumn Thoughts"

[Translation]

A thin horse on the ancient road struggled on against the western phoenix. The setting sun gradually lost its luster and set from the west. In the bleak and cold night, only the lonely traveler drifted in遇远的地方.

Third level

Speechless alone on the west tower, the moon like a hook. Lonely sycamore deep courtyard locked in the early fall.

--Li Yu, "Happiness at Meeting. Without Words and Alone on the West Tower"

[Translation]

Lonely in silence, the lonely man slowly ascended the west tower alone. Looking up at the sky, the waning moon is like a hook. Sycamore trees lonely isolated courtyard deep courtyard was shrouded in the cold and bleak autumn colors.

Fourth

Sitting alone in the secret grove, playing the qin again long whistle. The people in the deep forest do not know, but the bright moon comes to shine on each other.

-Wang Wei's "Bamboo Hall"

[Translation]

Sitting alone in a quiet bamboo grove, I played the zither while singing and wailing. No one knows in the deep mountain forest, only a bright moon is quietly with me.

The fifth level

One song and one bottle of wine, one person fishing alone in a river in the fall.

--Wang Shizhen, "Inscription on a Picture of Fishing Alone on a River in Autumn"

[Translation]

Singing a fisherman's song aloud and drinking from a bottle of wine, a man fishes alone on this river in autumn.

The sixth level

Seeking, cold, and miserable.

--Li Qingzhao, "The Sound of the Voice - Seeking and Seeking"

[Translation]

To seek and seek with great pains, but to see only cold and clear, how can one not be miserable and sad?

The seventh level

The one who walks and sits alone, the one who sings and rewards alone, and the one who lies alone.

--Zhu Shujin, "The Reduced Character Magnolia Flower - Spring Complaint"

[Translation]

Whether I walk or sit in silence, whether I chant alone or sing in harmony with each other, or even lie down on my bed and couch, I am all alone.

Level 8

The birds fly away from a thousand mountains, and the people are lost along ten thousand paths. The lonely boat Demoiselle, fishing alone in the snow of the cold river.

--Liu Zongyuan, "Snow on the River"

[Translation]

On all the mountains the flying birds are extinct, and on all the roads there is no trace of men. On a lonely boat on the river, an old man wearing a straw raincoat was fishing alone in the wind and snow.