Poetry Buds · 听古诗

OPEN POETRY LIBRARY · S01 / 097

Plum Blossom Quatrain, No. 1

梅花绝句·其一 · Lu You · Song dynasty

闻wén道dào梅méi花huā坼chè晓xiǎo风fēng

I hear plum blossoms open in the dawn wind;

雪xuě堆duī遍biàn满mǎn四sì山shān中zhōng

Like heaps of snow they fill the hills all around.

何hé方fāng可kě化huà身shēn千qiān亿yì

How could I become a billion versions of myself,

一yí树shù梅méi前qián一yí放fàng翁wēng

One old Fangweng before every plum tree?

What the poem means

News of plum blossoms opening in the dawn breeze makes the hills seem piled with snow. The poet wishes for countless copies of himself, one before every tree, expressing boundless delight.

Meet the poet

Lu You was a Song poet known as Fangweng. His delight in plum blossom becomes an extravagant wish to be everywhere at once.

Lu You · More poems →