Feelings and Encounters: No. 1
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
桂华秋皎洁。
欣欣此生意，
自尔为佳节。
谁知林栖者，
闻风坐相悦。
草木有本心，
何求美人折！
English translation
The orchid leaves in spring are lush, the cassia flowers in autumn are bright.
Joyfully this life unfolds, and of itself it makes the fair season.
Who would think that one dwelling in the woods, hearing the wind, would sit and take delight?
Grass and trees have a heart of their own, why should they seek to be plucked by beauty's hand?
Meaning
The orchid meets the spring and puts forth luxuriant leaves; the osmanthus meets the autumn and is pure and fresh.
The plants of the world teem with life, naturally following the fair season.
Who would think that the lofty recluse of the hills, smelling their fragrance, would be filled with joy?
That plants give forth fragrance comes of their inborn nature; how could they ask to be plucked by those who admire them!
Background
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In 737, the twenty-fifth year of the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Zhang Jiuling was demoted from chancellor in the Department of State Affairs to chief administrator (zhangshi) of Jingzhou. Slandered in his later years and exiled despite his loyalty, "whenever he read Han Fei's 'The Sorrow of Isolation' his tears soaked the front of his robe" (Xu Hao, "The Spirit-Path Stele of His Lordship Zhang"), and so he wrote the twelve poems "Stirred by What I Have Met," of which this poem is one.