Spring breaks and the year opens, the white day stretches on and on.
I shall let my spirit wander and find joy, following the Jiang Xia to ease my sorrows.
I gather the fragrant angelica of the great marshes, and pluck the Wintergrass from the long isle.
—Qu Yuan, "Longing for the Fair One"
Annotation: Fragrant angelica is a white herb, prized today as a spice. The Wintergrass is a plant that grows through winter and does not die. Pungent and aromatic, it drives away insects and rot. When Master Qu gathered fragrant angelica and plucked the Wintergrass, it is not truly the gathering of herbs. It is the cultivation of virtue, the purification of will, the serving of one's realm, and the upholding of righteousness.
The hardships of man are limited. Let us await the days to come... for even one as deeply grieved as Master Qu may yet pluck fragrance and ease his sorrow.
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