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Xuě Méi Qí YīSnow and Plum 雪梅其一

Lu Meipo (卢梅坡, also known as Lu Mei-p'o)｜Southern Song｜seven-character quatrain

Lu Meipo: plum and snow compete for spring; each has its strength. A winter poem.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

梅雪争春未肯降
méi xuě zhēng chūn wèi kěn jiàng

骚人搁笔费评章
sāo rén gē bǐ fèi píng zhāng

梅须逊雪三分白
méi xū xùn xuě sān fēn bái

雪却输梅一段香
xuě què shū méi yī duàn xiāng

Simplified characters; traditional title: 雪梅其一.

Plum and snow compete for spring, neither will give way;

the poet lays down his brush, struggling to judge.

The plum must yield to the snow a little in whiteness,

but the snow loses to the plum in fragrance.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

梅雪争春未肯降 · méi xuě zhēng chūn wèi kěn jiàng — Plum and snow compete for spring, neither will give way;

骚人搁笔费评章 · sāo rén gē bǐ fèi píng zhāng — the poet lays down his brush, struggling to judge.

梅须逊雪三分白 · méi xū xùn xuě sān fēn bái — The plum must yield to the snow a little in whiteness,

雪却输梅一段香 · xuě què shū méi yī duàn xiāng — but the snow loses to the plum in fragrance.

Lu Meipo: plum and snow compete for spring; each has its strength. A winter poem. The scene stays with you.

Lu Meipo: plum and snow compete for spring; each has its strength. A winter poem.

Lu Meipo is remembered for the paired Snow-and-Plum poems.

Lifetime: Southern Song (dates unknown). Other famous works: Snow and Plum (雪梅其一); Snow and Plum II (雪梅其二).