On pomegranate blossoms

Painting by Lu Zhi 陸治 (1496-1576), with an inscription by Wen Zhengming 文徵明 (1470-1559)

Image credit: National Palace Museum, Taipei

明陸治寫生　冊　石榴花開。國立故宮博物院，台北，CC BY 4.0 @ www.npm.gov.tw

江南五月綠枝勻，

剪剪輕羅蹙絳巾。

珍重東君憐寂寞，

故將穠豔表餘春。

徵明

In the fifth month in the South of the [Yangtze] River, [the pomegranate’s] green branches grow fuller,

Light gossamer, neatly tailored, creases into its scarlet headscarves.

Bidding farewell to the Lord of the East [1], [it] feels for his loneliness,

Hence this luxuriance, a display of the lingering spring.

By Zhengming

[1] The Lord of the East is the god of spring.

A magnificent show of the lingering spring in my garden