Birthday poem · September 27Autumn Equinox, the 16th solar term: day and night are equal again.

Birthday poem card for September 27: “The Ospreys Cry” by Book of Songs (anonymous). Birth character 山, mountain.

Birth character

山 shān · mountain

山 is a picture of three peaks; it means mountain.

只緣身在此山中
“For we are lost in the heart of the very place.” — Su Shi, ‘Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple’

Other dates with this poem: January 9

The poem

“The Ospreys Cry” 關雎

  1. 關關雎鳩Guan, guan, cry the ospreys
  2. 在河之洲on the islet in the river.
  3. 窈窕淑女A lovely, graceful girl —
  4. 君子好逑a fine match for a gentleman.

Book of Songs (anonymous) 詩經 · Zhou dynasty · four-character verse · excerpt

English translation by Poetune.

Why this poem

The first poem in the Book of Songs, about a young man longing for a girl.

This day in the Chinese calendar

Solar term: Autumn Equinox.

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