Birthday poem · May 16Start of Summer, the 7th solar term: summer begins.
Birth character
窗 chuāng · window
窗 means an opening in a wall or roof for light and air: a window.
何當共剪西窗燭
“Oh, when shall we be trimming wicks again, together in your western window?” — Li Shangyin, ‘Night Rain: Sent North’
Other dates with this poem: July 24
The poem
“Waking from an Early-Summer Nap” 閑居初夏午睡起
- 梅子留酸軟齒牙Plums leave a sourness that softens the teeth;
- 芭蕉分綠與窗紗banana leaves share their green with the window gauze.
- 日長睡起無情思The days are long; I wake from a nap with nothing on my mind,
- 閑看兒童捉柳花and idly watch the children chasing willow fluff.
Why this poem
Yang Wanli wakes from an early summer nap and watches children catch willow fluff.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Summer.