“望水试登山 山高湖又阔 相思无晓夕 相望经年月 郁郁山木荣 绵绵野花发 别后无限情 相逢一时说 I gaze down at the lake as I try to climb this mountain And the mountain seems as high as the lake is wide. I miss you in a night that never ends. I think of you through every day I live. So fragrant these blossoms on the mountain trees And the fields of wildflowers go on and on. After we parted, I was overwhelmed. So now I persuade myself that soon we’ll meet again.”
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Sending Red Blossoms ( 寄朱放) by Li Ye ( 李冶). Tang Dynasty.
Li Ye, courtesy name, Li Jilan (李季蘭), was a Tang dynasty poet, courtesan, entertainer and Taoist nun. She was known for her poetic talent as well as her beauty and grace. She was born in Wuxing (Huzhou), Zhejiang Province. She enjoyed writing poetry as a child and her father described her as “exceptionally clever.” Talented in poetry, music and calligraphy, she was well known in literary circles and was associated with famous poets. Much to her father’s predictions, she had a reputation for being an “unchaste” woman. In late-Tang, rebel leader Zhu Ci forced Li to write anti-Tang poetry. She was then condemned to death by Emperor Dezong in 784 after being accused of treason. She is one of the few Tang dynasty female poets whose poetry survived. The Complete Collection of Tang Dynasty Poetry from the Qing Dynasty preserves 18 of her poems.
Sending Red Blossoms was written in the dawn, describing her lonely climb up the mountain. Through fragrant wildflowers and blossoming trees, she bitterly waits for her lover. While the meaning of the poem is ambiguous, some suspect that it may be about yearning for her late husband.
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