The Hermit Says Goodbye completes the triptych Richard Teleky began with The Hermit's Kiss, followed by The Hermit in Arcadia. Through the persona of the hermit, he explores the nature of love, loss, solitude and mortality, asking what people can be to each other and what they are for themselves. As the hermit quests for understanding, he revels in - and meditates on - what the world has to tell us and what we might do with that knowledge.