The plants are in charge now
Du Fu is just along for the ride
Four Short Poems (About my New Cottage) Du Fu No. (4) (uncertainty) My medicinal herbs' lush green Has overrun the summer house And invaded the cottage But I can't take the credit for their wild spring spectacle I wonder if they'll grow properly in this cracked earth 杜甫 绝句四首·其四 药条药甲润青青，色过棕亭入草亭。 苗满空山惭取誉，根居隙地怯成形。
I love the central phrase in this poem, 色过. It could mean so many things: outcoloured, colour run past, more colour than, appearance is better than… Du Fu takes advantage of the lovely flexibility of written Classical Chinese to offer this vision of spring verdance that is just… more in every way.