Sotōba’s “bijin” Applied Not to a Perfect Confucian Man
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
The peony adorns the bed, a piece
Of heaven settled down in earth. The blooms
Themselves are heaven. They are summer’s lease
Paid out by God and planted with the plumes
Of angel’s wings above the border, stems
And leaves, and all of these above the soil.
Dichotomies do not prevail. The gems
Of petals, pistils, stamens do not toil
The way we gardeners do. A man who views
A woman, beautiful though she may be,
Still knows that she could never quite suffuse
The scene with so much splendor. God’s decree
Has made the blossoms so. Archangels bowed
Their feathers, opened buds by heaven endowed.