Plum & Apricot Blossoms

梅兄杏弟江南例 杏主梅賓薊北題

底藉郭駝法之巧 可忝莊叟物斯齊

田盤富於杏 茲游正值盛開 雨後益饒豔冶 向於雨 花室移盆 梅植於庭者同時放花 因各寫一枝 茲成是詩

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To the south of the Yangtze River, plum is elder, apricot younger;

In northern lands, the order quietly turns —

apricot steps forward, plum stands aside.

Borrowing a little of Kuo T’o art,

dare I claim

a place beside Chuang Tzu,

where things no longer contend for rank?

Mount Pan, rich with apricot trees. After rain, their bloom deepens. Potted branches moved from the Flower Pavilion; courtyard plums opening at the same hour. One branch of each, and a poem comes into being.