The "yong" in "Ode to the Willow" means praise. The author sings and praises the willow tree through poems.
Full poem
"Ode to the Willow"
[Tang Dynasty] He Zhizhang
Jasper makes up a tree as high as a tree, and thousands of green silk ribbons hang down .
I don’t know who cuts out the thin leaves. The spring breeze in February is like scissors.
Translation
The tall willow trees are covered with new green leaves, and the soft willow branches hang down, like thousands of gently fluttering green ribbons.
Whose skillful hands cut these thin leaves? It turned out to be the warm spring breeze in February, like a pair of dexterous scissors.
He Zhizhang (ca. 659-ca. 744), also known as Jizhen, called himself Siming Kuangke in his later years, Han nationality, a famous poet and calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, a native of Yongxing, Yuezhou (now Xiaoshan, Zhejiang) . He was famous for his poetry when he was young. In the first year of Zhengsheng (695), Wu Zetian became the number one scholar in Yiwei, and was awarded Doctorate of the Four Gates of Guozi and moved to Doctorate of Taichang. Later, he served successively as Minister of Rites, Secretary and Supervisor, and Guest of the Crown Prince.
He was open-minded and uninhibited, and was known as "a smooth talker". He was especially indulgent in his later years, calling himself "Si Ming Kuang Ke" and "Secretary and Supervisor". He retired and returned to his hometown at the age of eighty-six, and passed away. He was a poet in the early Tang Dynasty and a famous calligrapher. Together with Zhang Ruoxu, Zhang Xu and Bao Rong, they are known as the "Four Scholars of Wuzhong". He Zhizhang's poems are famous for their quatrains. In addition to the music for worshiping gods and the poems he composed, his landscape and lyrical works have a unique style, fresh and unrestrained. The famous "Ode to the Willows" and "Returning to Hometown" are two well-known poems and have been passed down through the ages. Most of his works Scattered and lost, there are still 19 poems included in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty".