From: Contemporary poet Zuo Heshui's "Autumn Equinox"
Original text:
As summer retreats and autumn becomes cooler, daylight and night both grow longer.
Thousands of silver cotton, gold and rice are beautiful, and ten thousand paths of osmanthus and yellow chrysanthemum are fragrant.
Translation: The hot summer days are gone, and the weather will become cooler and cooler from today on. The sunlight on the autumnal equinox will shine directly on the equator, and the day and night will be equal in length. From now on, the days will be shorter and the nights will be longer. Silver-white cotton and golden late rice intersect beautifully in the fertile fields; osmanthus and chrysanthemum bloom in the mountains and roadside of China, spreading their rich fragrance.
Extended information:
This is a seven-character quatrain describing the geography, weather, and crop harvest conditions on the autumnal equinox. There are only 28 words in the four sentences of the whole poem, which are concise and clear in meaning, easy to understand. It is not only beautiful in literature, but also rich in knowledge of astronomical science and agriculture.
From the perspective of literature and art, this poem has sophisticated language and expresses nature, from celestial bodies to geography, climate, temperature and the harvest of seasonal crops (cotton, late rice) and flowers (osmanthus, chrysanthemum) development status.
By firmly grasping the typical climate changes and plant growth characteristics of the autumnal equinox, the poet presents an image and vivid appearance of the autumnal equinox in front of readers.