Poetry of plum blossom #1 Red!

(Title)
hóng méi
红 梅

          (Author) wáng shí péng
                     ---- 王 十 朋

táo lǐ mò xiāng dù，yāo zī yuán bù tóng。
桃 李 莫 相 妒， 夭 姿 元 不 同。

yóu yú xuě shuāng tài ，wèi kěn shí fēn hóng。
犹 余 雪 霜 态， 未 肯 十 分 红。

(Translation)

红梅: red plum blossom                                                   

桃李: peach and plum

莫: do not                                                                          

相妒: be jealous

妖姿: beautiful shape                                                        

不同: different

犹余: still have something left                                          

雪霜: snow and frost

未肯: doesn't want to                                                         

十分: 100%

(Appreciation)

Different kinds of flowers should look different. Therefore, peach flowers and plum flowers should not be jealous of the red plum blossom. The red plum blossom just survived the snow and frost. That's why they don't look 100% red.

Ancient Chinese poets really like plum blossom. There are a lot of poems describing the beauty and courage of plum blossom because they bloom during the early spring when it's still very cold outside. The most common ones are actually black (like the ancient ink) or white (like snow).

It's still cold outside. But hopefully the spring is already on the way!