Birthday poem · March 2Rain Water, the 2nd solar term: snow gives way to rain.
Birth character
樹 shù · tree
樹 first meant to plant; it came to mean a tree.
碧玉妝成一樹高
“The slender beauty's dressed in emerald all about” — He Zhizhang, ‘Ode to the Willow’
The poem
“Ode to the Willow” 詠柳
- 碧玉妝成一樹高bì yù zhuāng chéng yī shù gāoThe slender beauty's dressed in emerald all about;
- 萬條垂下綠絲絛wàn tiáo chuí xià lǜ sī tāoA thousand branches droop like fringes made of jade.
- 不知細葉誰裁出bù zhī xì yè shuí cái chūBut do you know by whom these slim leaves are cut out?
- 二月春風似剪刀èr yuè chūn fēng shì jiǎn dāoThe wind of early spring is sharp as scissor blade.
Why this poem
He Zhizhang on the willow: "the spring wind of the second month is like scissors".
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Rain Water.