This series of four poem began when this first poem was completed. I was on the roll and began with a second one. However, I could not think of any appropriate title for them. Later an idea of grouping them with another of two as a series on the four seasons.
Winter
2 縹緲臘梅枝上横 Faintly discernible are wintersweet blooming in unfettered restraint.
3 與誰爭艷獨自紅 Who can vie with my beauty? Alone, I am most wanted,
4 東君醒後花落殘 And yet my spent blooms are falling upon the Lord of the East’s awakening.
3 Wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox is yellow in color and does not belong to the plum family. Hence 紅 means “popular” in this context.
4 東君, the Chinese Sun God to mean springtime, when most things will grow and bloom but emblems of winter will be gone.
Friday, March 3, 2023
Spring
1 蘭心綽約望春早 Dainty is a maid wishing for an early springtime,
2 出得深閨後庭到 And from her abysmal boudoir and into the garden she could go.
3 百花久已爭艷紅 Already a hundred blooms are vying in their alluring red,
4 又恐東君莫識奴 Yet afraid that the Lord of the East does not recognize me.
1 蘭心 – orchid heart, refers to a young lady of grace and charm.
2 Unmarried girls are supposed to be under lock and key in their rooms and not allowed the outside of their homes.
4 Here, the Lord of the East could refer someone the girl likes. 奴 – slave, a self-deprecatory term for a young girl or wife.
Friday, March 3, 2023
Summer
1 荷葉碧綠四月氣 Lotus leaves are green under the weather in the Month of Four.
2 破水紅拳風吹微 Red fists bursting forth through the water as the wind is gentle.
3 晴天神怡暗香醉 A sunny day a freshed and carefree, yet inebriated to the faintly scented,
4 浮雲蜻蜓池上戲 Dragonflies jousting upon the clouds and the pond.
1 The lotus is a symbol of summer.
2 Lotus buds.
4 The reflection of clouds on the water’s surface.
Saturday, March 4, 2023
Autumn
1 重陽金菊設輝煌 So grand are the golden chrysanthemum decorations of Double Ninth,
2 妃嬪無幾賀明堂 But few imperial ladies came congratulating in the Hall of Distinction.
3 是否牡丹薔薇恩 Is it because of the love between the Peony and the Rambler Rose?
4 可憐宮花歲月黄 Alas, other palace flowers wasting into yellowness with passing years.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Ninth_Festival
2 Different dynasties have different ranking systems in the imperial harem. A great reference to see how the harem ranks are translated in the following article,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Chinese_harem_system
明堂 is also known as the Hall of Enlightenment or Brightness.
http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Terms/mingtang.html
3 The peony is considered to be the queen of all flowers and as such, designated as the “national” flower. It is reputed that Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty preferred the Rosa Multiflora and has it painted with peonies to represent the “Two Holies”.
4 Or they being are afraid of Empress Wu? Those having any relationship with the Emperor always met their doom, including those who came before her. Even her own relatives died mysteriously.
Sunday, March 5, 2023
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