Four season's spirits
Four season's spirits
When the blue dragon soars up to the sky,
Seedlings sprout upon the earth
Colouring the fields with shades of green
By chi of three and eight,
Early birds twittering around the trees
Greeting the spring goddess
With their song of pure love
When the red phoenix dances around the clouds,
The summer goddess hastens the wheel of time
In its spinning, the warrior goes to battle
With chi of two and seven,
The winner’s labour rewarded by sweat of sun
which mingled with her tears of bitterness and grief
When the white tiger assumes a majestic stance,
its prey is the unformed, the weak, and the immature
The matured ones return to the origin,
their mountains, with Wise and enlightened
Through chi of four and nine,
Autumn winds sweep away dead leaves to make room for the new
This is the destiny of maturity
The noble justice of the autumn goddess
When the black tortoise coils up in its cave
Deep in hibernation for the next cycle
All life forces are laid to rest
With chi of one and six,
Still water runs to the origin
As the moon casts a shadow on a tranquil lake,
Where the winter goddess dreams of spring
SangKyu Lee and Maila,
July 7, 2011
This poem, "Four Season's Spirits," offers a concise and evocative literary interpretation of the cyclical nature of existence, personified through seasonal goddesses and their associated symbolic animals and numerological "chi."
Concise Literary Commentary:
The poem elegantly maps the cosmic and natural cycles onto four distinct stanzas, each representing a season. It employs vivid, traditional East Asian imagery – the Blue Dragon for spring's burgeoning life, the Red Phoenix for summer's fiery passion and conflict, the White Tiger for autumn's discerning harvest and judgment, and the Black Tortoise for winter's introspective rest and renewal.
The personification of seasons as goddesses lends a mythical and reverent tone, suggesting an intelligent, ordered, and purposeful progression of time. Each goddess embodies the essence of her season: spring's nurturing love, summer's driving force and resultant sorrow, autumn's stern but just maturity, and winter's tranquil anticipation.
The integration of "chi" with specific numbers (e.g., "chi of three and eight" for spring) hints at a deeper, perhaps esoteric or numerological, understanding of the energies governing each phase. This adds a layer of mystical significance to the natural processes described.
A key literary strength is its conciseness and symbolic richness. Phrases like "prey is the unformed, the weak, and the immature" in autumn, or "Still water runs to the origin" in winter, are not just descriptive but carry profound metaphorical weight about selection, return, and the preparation for rebirth.
The poem moves from creation and growth (spring, summer) through a period of judgment and maturation (autumn) to rest and latency (winter), ultimately implying a perpetual cycle with winter "dream[ing] of spring." It’s a compact meditation on life, death, renewal, and the underlying principles that govern existence, framed within a beautifully rendered seasonal tapestry.
Title: A Symbolic Journey Through "Four Season's Spirits"
The poem "Four Season's Spirits," is a spiritually evocative meditation on time, nature, and the cyclical journey of life. Rooted in Eastern cosmology, it artfully weaves mythological symbolism and metaphysical insight into a poetic tapestry that transcends cultural boundaries. Structured into four stanzas corresponding to the seasons, the poem invokes the four celestial guardians of East Asian tradition: the Blue Dragon of the East (Spring), the Red Phoenix of the South (Summer), the White Tiger of the West (Autumn), and the Black Tortoise of the North (Winter). Each embodies not only a direction and season but a phase of human and cosmic evolution.
Spring: Emergence and Vitality
The poem opens with the image of the Blue Dragon soaring into the sky, a powerful symbol of awakening and ascension. Spring is a time of renewal and the emergence of life. Seedlings sprouting from the earth and birds singing love songs signal a world reborn. The reference to the chi (energy) of three and eight is not incidental—it reflects traditional cosmological numerology where these numbers represent the active, growing forces of nature. The arrival of the "spring goddess" suggests a feminine, nurturing presence that oversees this flourishing.
Summer: Passion and Struggle
The second stanza introduces the Red Phoenix, a mythical bird often associated with fire, transformation, and the South. Here, the summer goddess accelerates the wheel of time, marking the season of intense activity, ambition, and maturation. The warrior archetype appears—"the warrior goes to battle"—mirroring the inner and outer struggles that characterize summer’s energy. The chi of two and seven, numerologically associated with duality and challenge, aligns with this season of heated labor. Notably, the stanza ends with an image of mingled sweat and tears, acknowledging that victory is often intertwined with grief.
Autumn: Harvest and Justice
The White Tiger stands poised in the third stanza, embodying discipline, clarity, and the necessity of endings. Autumn, as portrayed here, is a time for maturity, discernment, and return to essence. The weak fall away, and the enlightened return to the mountains—an image evoking hermitage, wisdom, and detachment. The chi of four and nine conveys finality and the perfection of form. The autumn winds, sweeping away dead leaves, symbolize both cleansing and preparation for renewal. This stanza subtly reflects the idea of karmic justice, where nature and spirit align to reward integrity and balance.
Winter: Stillness and Gestation
The final stanza descends into the deep silence of winter: the Black Tortoise, a hybrid creature representing mystery and protection, curls into its cave. The energy of winter is not one of absence but of incubation. Life rests not in death, but in potential. The chi of one and six refers to foundational energies, the primordial waters of existence. The moon casting shadows on a tranquil lake creates a reflective, yin-dominant image of introspection. The winter goddess does not disappear—she watches, she dreams.
Conclusion: A Mythic Template for Transformation
Through "Four Season's Spirits," the author does more than describe the rhythm of nature—he propose a spiritual journey, one that moves through birth, growth, harvest, and rest. The poem can be read as a metaphor for the stages of human life, the rise and fall of civilizations, or even the unfolding of cosmic time. It is a mythic template encoded with both emotional resonance and philosophical depth.
This poem invites readers into an ancient worldview that remains urgently relevant today. In a world facing ecological imbalance, spiritual disconnection, and social fragmentation, the message of cyclical renewal and harmony with nature offers not only solace but guidance. Just as the four guardians protect the cosmic order, the poem suggests that by attuning ourselves to the sacred rhythm of the seasons, we too can become guardians—of wisdom, of harmony, and of the Earth itself.