Tender orchid-leaves in spring
And cinnamon- blossoms bright in autumn
Are as self- contained as life is,
Which conforms them to the seasons.
Yet why will you think that a forest-hermit,
Allured by sweet winds and contented with beauty,
Would no more ask to-be transplanted
THan Would any other natural flower?
-- Poem translator: Kiang Kanghu
兰叶春葳蕤，桂华秋皎洁。
欣欣此生意，自尔为佳节。
谁知林栖者，闻风坐相悦。
草木有本心，何求美人折。
Five-character-ancient-verse
Composed during the late Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, when court politics grew increasingly corrupt, this poem was written after Zhang Jiuling's demotion to Military Governor of Jingzhou due to Li Linfu's slander against his honest counsel. As the opening piece of his Twelve Reflections cycle, it employs botanical metaphors to express the poet's unyielding integrity and lament for unrecognized talent amidst political disillusionment.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
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