Birthday poem · March 1Rain Water, the 2nd solar term: snow gives way to rain.
Birth character
春 chūn · spring
春 shows plants sprouting under the sun; it means spring.
春眠不覺曉
“This spring morning in bed I'm lying” — Meng Haoran, ‘Spring Dawn’
The poem
“Grass on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell” 賦得古原草送別
- 離離原上草lí lí yuán shàng cǎoWild grasses spread across the plain;
- 一歲一枯榮yī suì yī kū róngEach year they wither and grow green again.
- 野火燒不盡yě huǒ shāo bù jìnWildfire never quite consumes them—
- 春風吹又生chūn fēng chuī yòu shēngThey are tall once more in the spring wind.
- 遠芳侵古道yuǎn fāng qīn gǔ dàoTheir fragrance far invades the ancient way;
- 晴翠接荒城qíng cuì jiē huāng chéngTheir sunny green joins ruined walls in sight.
- 又送王孫去yòu sòng wáng sūn qùSeeing you off again, O noble friend,
- 萋萋滿別情qī qī mǎn bié qíngThick grasses fill my heart with parting light.
Why this poem
Bai Juyi as a youth: wildfire cannot burn the grass out; spring wind brings it back.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Rain Water.