Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PLANTING FLOWERS ON THE EASTERN EMBANKMENT, by PO CHU-YI


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PLANTING FLOWERS ON THE EASTERN EMBANKMENT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I took money and bought flowering trees
Last Line: Sits till evening and will not move from the place!
Alternate Author Name(s): Bai Juyi; Bo Juyi; Po Chu-i; Lo T'ien; Jyu-yi
Subject(s): China - Tang Dynasty (618-905); Flowers; Gardens & Gardening


I TOOK money and bought flowering trees
And planted them out on the bank to the east of the Keep.
I simple bought whatever had most blooms,
Not caring whether peach, apricot, or plum.
A hundred fruits, all mixed up together;
A thousand branches, flowering in due rotation.
Each has its season coming early or late;
But to all alike the fertile soil is kind.
The red flowers hang like a heavy mist;
The white flowers gleam like a fall of snow.
The wandering bees cannot bear to leave them;
The sweet birds also come there to roost.
In front there flows an ever-running stream;
Beneath there is built a little flat terrace.
Sometimes I sweep the flagstones of the terrace;
Sometimes, in the wind, I raise my cup and drink.
The flower-branches screen my head from the sun;
The flower-buds fall down into my lap.
Alone drinking, alone singing my songs
I do not notice that the moon is level with the steps.
The people of Pa do not care for flowers;
All the spring no one has come to look.
But their Governor General, alone with his cup of wine
Sits till evening and will not move from the place!





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