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Wang Feng-yuan (1032–1059), aka Wang Ling, was a native of Yangchou, where the Grand Canal meets the Yangtze. Although he was quite poor he was such a brilliant student that he came to the attention of Wang An-shih, before he became prime minister. Wang An-shih admired his talents and virtue so much he considered him an equal and arranged for him to marry his wife’s younger sister. Unfortunately, Wang Feng-yuan did not live long enough to realize his potential: he died of an illness before he was thirty. The swallow is the bird most commonly associated with summer, while the oriole and cuckoo are the birds of early and late spring. The East Wind is the wind of spring, just as the West Wind is the wind of autumn.

Seeing Off Spring

WANG FENG-YUAN

In April flowers fade and fall and more appear

swallows fly below the eaves back and forth all day

the cuckoo cries at midnight as if its voice would break

convinced it can still call the East Wind back