The German author Hermann Hesse, known for his work about nature and his fascination with Eastern cultures and thought, penned a short, fairytale-like story set in old China. Titled “The Poet,” it concerns the life and work of Han Fook, an aspiring poet who leaves secular life to train with a mysterious old sage who introduces himself as the Master of the Perfect Word. It is one of eight short stories in a 1972 publication called “Strange News from a Another Star.”
Hesse’s hero encounters the sage while observing the indescribable beauty of a lantern festival reflected in the Yellow River, site of his home city. Overcome with a feeling that “true happiness and deep satisfaction could only” come from mirroring the “essence of the world” in his poetry, Han Fook comes across a strange old man in violet robes who reveals his identity as the Master and directs him to the mountains.
