Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Line by Line - Verse 2, Line 8

and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Front and back follow one another.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Front and back follow each other
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

And something else came first, so this must be next.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Of these several lines of comparison and contrast, this is my favorite. For me, it best describes a circle, one line continually flowing.

There is no start point. There is no end point. There is only constant movement that flows unto itself.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

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