Birthday poem · May 14Start of Summer, the 7th solar term: summer begins.
Birth character
露 lù · dew
露 combines 雨 "rain" with 路 as a sound element; it means dew.
春風拂檻露華濃
“The spring wind brushes the railing, the dew lies thick and bright.” — Li Bai, ‘Song of Pure Peace’
Other dates with this poem: July 19
The poem
“Cicada” 蝉
- 垂緌飲清露Its tassels hanging, it drinks the clear dew;
- 流響出疏桐its flowing song comes from the sparse paulownia.
- 居高聲自遠High up, its voice carries far on its own —
- 非是藉秋風it doesn't need to borrow the autumn wind.
Why this poem
Yu Shinan on the cicada: its voice carries because it sits high, not because of the wind.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Summer.