Birthday poem · January 18Minor Cold, the 23rd solar term: the weather turns colder.
Birth character
香 xiāng · fragrance
香 combines grain with 甘 "sweet"; it first meant the smell of grain, then fragrance.
暗香浮動月黃昏
“A hidden fragrance drifts in the moonlit dusk.” — Lin Bu, ‘Little Plum in the Mountain Garden’
The poem
“Little Plum in the Mountain Garden” 山園小梅
- 衆芳搖落獨暄妍When all other flowers have fallen, it alone blooms bright,
- 占盡風情向小園claiming all the charm of the little garden.
- 疏影橫斜水清淺Sparse shadows slant across clear, shallow water;
- 暗香浮動月黃昏a hidden fragrance drifts in the moonlit dusk.
Why this poem
Lin Bu on plum blossom: sparse shadows on clear water, faint scent at dusk.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Minor Cold.