Birthday poem · June 22Summer Solstice, the 10th solar term: the longest day of the year.
Birth character
歌 gē · song
歌 combines 欠, an open mouth, with 哥 as a sound element; it means to sing, or a song.
忽聞岸上踏歌聲
“When suddenly on shore footsteps and songs o'erflow.” — Li Bai, ‘For Wang Lun’
The poem
“What I Saw” 所見
- 牧童騎黃牛A cowherd boy rides a yellow ox,
- 歌聲振林樾his song shaking the woods.
- 意欲捕鳴蝉Wanting to catch a singing cicada,
- 忽然閉口立he suddenly shuts his mouth and stands still.
Why this poem
Yuan Mei on a herd boy who goes silent to catch a cicada. A summer poem.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Summer Solstice.