Oh chrysanthemum, autumn flower

Your foliage is jasper fringe
Hangs off the ground behind a layer layer
Tens of thousands of your petals
They burn like chased gold ...
Oh chrysanthemum, autumn flower,
Your proud spirit, your unusual kind
About the accomplishments of valiant men
They tell me.
Let meihua drown in flowers
Yet her outfit is too simple.
Let the lilac be strewn with flowers -
And it is not easy for her to argue with you ...
You do not feel sorry for me at all:
You pour out the scent so generously
Giving birth to sad thoughts about
Who is far away.


Li Qingzhao (1084-1155)