awaiting spring

Glossy branches of jasper, 
A sprinkling of early blossoms,
Touched up by snow bring,
The first tidings of spring.
Soft and delicate in her new make-up,
Fragrant face half showing,
She emerges in the middle of the courtyard--
A beauty in the flower of youth fresh from her bath. 

Nature must have regarded her with special favor,
To lavish on her such splendid moonbeams.
Come drain these golden cups of emerald
Till we are drunk.
Of all flowers this the one beyond compare. ~Li Qingzhao 

(cited:   Jiaosheng Wang, Sino-Plantonic Papers The Complete Ci-poems of Li Qingzhao: A New English Translation)