Birthday poem · July 5Summer Solstice, the 10th solar term: the longest day of the year.
Birth character
柳 liǔ · willow
柳 combines 木 "tree" with a sound element; it means willow.
客舍青青柳色新
“The willows by the tavern look so fresh and green.” — Wang Wei, ‘Farewell to Yuan Er on His Mission to Anxi’
The poem
“Gazing at the Tide” 望海潮
- 煙柳畫橋Misty willows, painted bridges,
- 風簾翠幕wind-stirred curtains, kingfisher-blue screens,
- 參差十萬人家a hundred thousand homes, uneven, crowding.
- 重湖疊巘清嘉Layered lakes and folded hills, clear and lovely;
- 有三秋桂子osmanthus seeds through the three months of autumn,
- 十里荷花ten miles of lotus flowers.
Why this poem
Liu Yong on the wealth of Hangzhou, with its osmanthus in autumn and lotus in summer.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Summer Solstice.