A Poem titled ‘Wind’

From a Selection of Ancient Chinese Poems by my Grandfather, Tien Chen

Wind by Li Qiao written in the Tang Dynasty -《风》唐，李峤

解落三秋叶，

Untying three Autumn leaves,

能开二月花。

Blossoming February flowers.

过江千尺浪，

Thousands of feet of waves,

入竹万竿斜。

Ten thousand bamboo trees sway.

This poem captures how the wind affects nature. The wind causes leaves to fall in Autumn, it spurs the blossoming of flowers in early Spring. When it passes rivers, it raises thousands of feet of waves. When it passes through the bamboo forests, it makes the trees sway.

The four phrases of the poem are arranged in pairs. The numbers of “three”, “two” (February), “thousand” and “ten thousand” are arranged in pairs to express the power of wind, and also express the poet’s awe of nature.