Birthday poem · October 31Frost’s Descent, the 18th solar term: the first frosts.
Birth character
雁 yàn · wild goose
雁 is the wild goose, which flies south in autumn and north in spring.
北風吹雁雪紛紛
“The north wind drives the geese through swirling snow.” — Gao Shi, ‘Farewell to Dong Da’
Other dates with this poem: August 31
The poem
“Frost and Moon” 霜月
- 初聞征雁已無蝉When I first hear the passing geese, the cicadas are gone;
- 百尺樓高水接天from the hundred-foot tower, the water meets the sky.
- 青女素娥俱耐冷The Frost Maiden and the Moon Goddess both endure the cold,
- 月中霜裏鬥嬋娟vying in beauty in the moon and the frost.
Why this poem
Li Shangyin on frost and moon in late autumn, as geese arrive and cicadas go.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Frost’s Descent.