Birthday poem · June 29Summer Solstice, the 10th solar term: the longest day of the year.
Birth character
香 xiāng · fragrance
香 combines grain with 甘 "sweet"; it first meant the smell of grain, then fragrance.
暗香浮動月黃昏
“A hidden fragrance drifts in the moonlit dusk.” — Lin Bu, ‘Little Plum in the Mountain Garden’
The poem
“Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu” 望廬山瀑布
- 日照香爐生紫煙rì zhào xiāng lú shēng zǐ yānThe sunlit Censer Peak exhales a wreath of cloud;
- 遙看瀑布掛前川yáo kàn pù bù guà qián chuānLike an upended stream the cataract sounds loud.
- 飛流直下三千尺fēi liú zhí xià sān qiān chǐIts torrent dashes down three thousand feet from high
- 疑是銀河落九天yí shì yín hé luò jiǔ tiānAs if the Silver River fell from azure sky.
Why this poem
Li Bai looks at the waterfall at Mount Lu, "falling three thousand feet".
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Summer Solstice.