早梅
齐己
万木冻欲折，
孤根暖独回。
前村深雪里，
昨夜一枝开。
风递幽香去，
禽窥素艳[1]来。
明年应有律[2]，
先发望春台[3]。
注释：
[1] 素艳：这里指早梅的色彩素净而又娇艳。
[2] 律：原来指古代校正乐音标准的管状仪器，并且分有十二律；又因为古人用十二律的名称对应一年的十二个月，所以律又指节气。此处“应有律”就是指应该有一个明媚的春季。
[3] 春台：这里代指主持考试的礼部。
To the Early Mume Blossoms
Qi Ji
Frozen are all the trees;
Your warm root will not freeze.
In the village’s deep snow
Last night your branch did blow.
Fragrance oozed in wind light;
Birds peep at you still white.
If you blossom next year,
You will foretell spring’s near.
The poet shows he is as pure and cold-proof as the mume blossom.
《早梅》是唐代诗人齐己的一首咏物诗，写作者在雪后出行看到早梅开放的所见所感，全诗语言轻润平淡毫无浮艳之气，以含蕴的笔触刻画了梅花傲寒的品性及素艳的风韵。
The poem “Early Plum Blossoms” is a poem by Qi Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, about what he saw and felt when he saw early plum blossoms after a trip in the snow.
