These wondrous trees rest on lofty peaks;
their tall trunks rise up in stately majesty.

Emerald foliage grows in rank profusion,
spreading an exuberance of tender stalks.

They display lush verdure of lovely needles,
arrayed with green cones, thickly clustered.

Girded by dark streams that twist and twine,
they look down on green rivers’ white swells.

Responding to the wind, their branches sing
like the echoing sounds of strings and reeds.

Growing splendid, they are broadly spread,
with auras pure and cold, grave and solemn.

Their deep fragrances are heavy and strong,
richly endowed with firmness and strength.

They remain verdant as spring approaches,
like old sages who accord with the seasons.

Enduring harsh winters, trunks stand tall;
even midst freezing frosts, no foliage falls.

Red Pine wanders below: attains the Way.
Wen Bin eats the cones: achieves long life.

Poets sing of their everlasting luxuriance;
they reveal their unyielding steadfastness.

Cypress and pine grow together: tranquil.

. . . . .

Cento piece created by Susan Powers Bourne
Source: Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism.
Kang-i Sun Chang, Haun Saussy, Charles Yim-tze Kwong. Stanford U Press, 1999: 30 – 33.